Song of the Shadows: Losing Myself
by Stormshadow3
Summary: Has a rather incomprehensible plot and about nine thousand unrelated subplots. Also just really weird in general. Please don't read. Please.
1. Background Information

**Reading this is recommended if you want to go through the DotS series, but not mandatory since the next book features a different main character (although you'd be confused at various points if you didn't).**

 **However, be warned. I wrote this around half a year ago, and... it was strange. It touched upon some sensitive subjects near the end that I didn't think I portrayed really well, and there were some weird jokes I put into the story (and in author notes). But in all, I was sort of insensitive back then, and twisted things around to fit the plot, so proceed with caution.**

 **(I think I made too big a deal out of it, but just in case.)**

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Books » Warriors » **Song of the Shadows: Losing Myself** , by Stormshadow3

 **Chapters:** 1\. Background Information; 2. Ceremonies and Tricksters; 3. Chasing and Stories; 4. Mentors and Training Sessions; 5. Rabbits and Eavesdropping; 6. Suspicion and Magpies; 7. Clawing and Stillness; 8. Battles and Relationships; 9. Dens and Interrogation; 10. Explanations and Past; 11. Meetings and Dark Surprises; 12. Blood and Strangers; 13. Secret Symbols and Home; 14. Confrontations and Patrols; 15. Coming Back and Secrets; 16. Exile and Death; 17. Return and Strange Monsters; 18. Shootings and Dusk; 19. Questions and Dreams; 20. Wakefulness and Escape; 21. Friends and Spiders; 22. Warriors and Revenge; 23. Dizziness and Seeing Stars; 24. End Note and Information

Rated: T, English

...

 **Dance of the Stars (DotS) Series**

- **Book 1-**

 **Song of the Shadows: Losing Myself**

 **By Stormshadow3, an insane, schedule-loaded, busy, relationshipwise-complicated, future published author in the making, *insert adjective here* she-cat and fellow potato**

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I want to find out why LightClan hates the dark so much. I'm not scared at all, and I don't know why they keep making such a big fuss about all of it. But there are whispers, whispers of long-forgotten battles and memories and strange disappearances. I can feel the pulse, too, the same one that keeps me running back to the shadowed forest.

I don't think I can control it anymore.

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Dance of the Stars (DotS) Series Book One: Song of the Shadows: Losing Myself

Copyright 2016-2017 by Stormshadow3

-all rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information address the author, Stormshadow3.

 **(Heh, I had to put that in there.)**

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For all the people that have stuck with me through so much.

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Useful Information to Have Before You Start Reading

 **-The Illuminated (any cat that is a member of LightClan or SunClan, their ancestors) at the BEGINNING of the story-**

Shooting Star (leader): Creekstar, a light blue-gray tom with steely gray eyes

Chasing Cloud (deputy): Swanlake, a gray she-cat with dark brown stripes and lake-blue eyes

Storm-Calmer (medicine cat): Brightpool, a snow-white she-cat with bright amber eyes

Reflection (medicine cat apprentice): Flutterpaw, a dark gray she-cat with dark amber eyes

Sunspots (nickname given to senior warriors): Gazingfly, a white tom with light gray patterns on his pelt and mild yellow eyes; Dovechaser, a light gray she-cat with calming leaf-green eyes; Mossflight, a small tortoiseshell tom with tiny, squinted, dark green eyes

Golden Rays (warriors): Plumsnout, a bright tortoiseshell she-cat with gleaming amber eyes; Silentfeather, originally Streamkit, he is named for his deafness and has a peculiar gray pelt that sticks out at all angles plus dark blue eyes; Daisyspirit, a white she-cat with striking, light green eyes

Ferndrift, a light gray tom with darting yellow eyes; Fawnspots, a small brown she-cat with long legs, neat white paws, and rounded ginger-colored eyes; Berrymist, a gray tom with crisscrossing, darker gray stripes and clouded, almost misty blue eyes

Blossomstreak, a tortoiseshell and light brown she-cat with a cross attitude, despite her name prefix, and scolding amber eyes (the Sparrow Wings, especially the younger ones, all fear her); Sleepyjaw, a friendly white tom with glowing, brown eyes; Rosestone, a bright ginger she-cat with pale blue eyes who likes to do everything fast

Goldenquail, a light gray and brown and not particularly bright tom with dark, and rare orange eyes; Whispersong, a pure white she-cat with tucked ears and golden eyes; Shiningfur, a glossy light ginger tom with white paws and light green eyes

Clearwing, a white tom with short, thin blue-gray stripes and glassy blue eyes; Dusteye, a plain ginger tom with light amber-brown eyes who always seems to be sick

Sparrow Wings (apprentices): Pebblepaw, a dark gray she-cat with shining yellow eyes; Ryepaw, a thin ginger tom with staring green eyes that would then make you feel a vague sensation of unease; Splashpaw, a bouncy blue-gray tom that was constantly being told off by the seniors

Fernpaw, Ferndrift's kit, a light tortoiseshell and black tom with silver-gray eyes; Brackenpaw, a brown and ginger tom with light green eyes

Younglings (kits): Glowkit, a light gray she-cat with ginger stripes and green eyes; Dandalionkit, a little fuzzy ball of light ginger that passed away during a particularly cold night in leaf-bare, only a single moon ago

Mothers (queens): Sparrowchirp, a light tortoiseshell she-cat with black stripes and yellow eyes (kits: Glowkit, a light gray she-cat with ginger stripes and green eyes; Flutterkit, now known as Flutterpaw) - mate is Spruceshadow, a dark tawny tom with narrowed, untrusting yellow eyes that has disappeared mysteriously for more than three moons

Retired (elders): Reedflower, a light brown she-cat with large, bold yellow eyes; Clouddrifter, a burly white tom with light blue eyes that blink way too much

Bats (nickname given to prisoners of war): Leaf, a brown mottled tom with scars on his flank and a shredded eye; Bell, a stargazing she-cat with a black pelt and distant blue eyes that has to be constantly reminded to get back to work; Rain, originally Rainy-Night (the second part of her name was removed because it was believed that it would bring bad luck to the clan), a sand-colored she-cat with gray streaks across her body and deep azure eyes

The-Cat-With-No-Name, a short-tempered, easily bothered and distracted brown tom with blind green eyes that once shone like fresh leaves; Russet, a pretty she-cat who looked almost like a fox and acted like one

 **The Code of LightClan:**

1\. Do not speak of SunClan in low regards.

2\. Do not bring food to prisoners of war unless directed to do so.

3\. Every cat must be back at the camp by sundown, otherwise punishments will be decided by the Shooting Star.

4\. No cat should be named with the following Prefixes and Suffixes: Moon, Star, Dark, Shadow, Shade, Shadowed, Shaded, Umbra, Hidden, or anything related to darkness in general.

5\. The Shooting Star must be the first to eat for the last meal of the day.

6\. Chasing Clouds may be reappointed at any time, and no one may interject.

7\. Do not murder within the clan, steal, or mate on ill terms.

8\. If a Storm-Calmer has been found of treason of any kind, he or she must be banished without further discussion.

9\. Cats found of talking about treason to LightClan will immediately be banished.

10\. The borders must be checked daily, and all trespassers are either to be taken prisoner or killed on the spot.

 **Basics of LightClan:**

LightClan is an isolated clan, fighting off anything that comes even near their territory, and have an unusual fear of the dark. The moon is considered cursed by many, and the stars are believed to be powerful and ancient but can ensure death for all, just the same.


	2. Ceremonies and Tricksters

Books » Warriors » **Song of the Shadows: Losing Myself**

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 **EDIT FROM 2017: If you want to see actual story and not mucking around, skim until chapter 2 or 3. Some of the information in the author's note below will be inaccurate because... 2016.**

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 **I know I said that I wouldn't be writing any more fanfics... but I'm still alive and technically active, dammit!**

 **This is going to be long. The longest thing I've ever written for a single chapter. This might become a full story. It probably will.**

 **Now, I know what you're thinking: Storm, you said that you had to write this novel-thing or something. YOU LIED TO ME! *sobs***

 **I didn't lie. I finished the novel-thing. But now, I've already contacted THREE publishers and none of them responded... yet. It's been a long time, and I need to keep my creative juices flowing. You know?** **I'm truly sorry that I won't be continuing the other fanfics, but-**

 **You know what? This is just all too sad for me. I'm going to update again!**

 **But don't get too excited. I will only update when I really feel like it. I will very rarely, if at all, update Bring Up the Bodies, because I've no idea what to do with that one. I will update The Cat With No Soul Left the most, because I literally planned out everything, I'm proud of the plot, and I don't want to let it go to waste. Rising Storm... well, maybe, and the reviewing thing is just for fun when I'm in the mood for it.**

 **I'll try to keep up with this with all the publisher and editor and emailing and query letter and synopsis and contacting stuff. I'll try.**

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Song of the Shadows: Losing Myself by Stormshadow3

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Chapter 1

Once upon a time, there was this average-looking she-cat. She messed up a couple of times and then she died.

That made-up story used to be so funny to me. I don't know why anymore. Maybe that she-cat was me after all.

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I remember that one time, when I was so small and so vulnerable, and when I curled up under the stars, nuzzling myself against my mother's fur. "The moon's so pretty," I had said, "why aren't we supposed to like it?"

"It's a Creature of the Dark, just like the stars and the wild animals that come howling after you," she replied simply, as if she had been prepared for this question all along.

I stared at her like she was crazy. "But the moon isn't alive, and neither are the stars."

"The spirit that lives inside them are, though," she meowed. Her tail curled protectively over my eyes, as if to shield me from the outside world. "You aren't even supposed to look at it. No one is. It's our code. Do you know what codes are?"

"Yeah," I said, even though I actually didn't.

"Then go to bed." She turned, and gave the lump of fur besides me a hearty lick. "Flutterkit, keep still," she scolded. "Didn't you say you wanted to be a Reflection? Then I guarantee you, the first lesson you learn will be to stay silent."

She snorted. "Not all Reflections are like that, right, Glowkit? Besides, Brightpool is a pretty good mentor, and she still has time to play with me even though she's a Storm-Calmer."

"Well, Storm-Calmers are basically the mentors of Reflections, anyway," I muttered. "Can I sleep now?"

That conversation is blurred now, but it comes back sometimes: when it's night and the cold breeze ruffles through fur, and sometimes when the situation looks a lot like the one I was in right now. Because I was stuck in the middle of a naming ceremony, everyone was staring at me, and I was silently thinking things like, why was my mouth so big?

Or even: why couldn't that random plant that fell on the roof in that storm have fell on my face and made me inable to talk?

"Glowkit," Creekstar said sternly, "you are certainly not allowed to disrespect our tradition like this. For your behavior, your ceremony will be delayed for another five sunups."

My mind was spinning. What did I say? I remembered him talking something about the vow- the vow, that was it; and then there was something about blind loyalty that I didn't agree with, so I...

I heard Flutterkit snickering beside me. Whatever, let her have her pleasure, I thought. I was kind of glad for that delay, actually. I wasn't ready to be a proper student- or so my mom says- even though my sister may be. Her Reflection ceremony was done faster than you can say "fluttering butterfly wings on a steaming hot summer day."

Clearly, my mom wasn't feeling exactly the same. Her face was red, and all the fur along her spine and neck rose up like grass blades. "Excuse me!" she yowled angrily. "That was just a slight misconception!"

"Slight misconception?" Creekstar tilted his head. " 'But I don't get it There has to be life out there, somewhere, and not just those monsters that you keep telling us about! I don't like to be lied to' Those were her exact words, Sparrowchirp. This is not acceptable."

My mother's mouth was sealed in a straight line. I could tell she didn't like this one bit, but finally she caved in and sighed, along with a sideways glance towards me that said, "I'll go kill you later." Or something along those lines, I'm pretty sure. "Fine."

Slowly, the crowd began to relax, and murmurs rang out all around until at last, the distinct cry of a cheer rose up and diminished those other countless conversations: "Flutterpaw! Flutterpaw!"

I felt a tap on my shoulders, and there Sparrowchirp was. She was trying not to cry and also smile for her other daughter's success at the same time, which made her originally attractive face scrunch up in strange proportions. "Come on, Glowkit," she muttered.

The next few days passed slowly. Too slowly, I could say. Flutterpaw was made Reflection to Brightpool, alright, and she would not shut up about it. "Oh my SunClan," she said the moment the ceremony was over. Her spotless white fur seemed to shine even more than usual, and her eyes were gleaming an unattractive color- purple? When were they purple? "Maybe Brightpool should take a look at your eyes," I suggested with concern. "They're flashing violet."

"What?" Just as she said the words, we stepped out of the sunlight and the purple glow was gone, replaced by the warm amber color that I was always used to. I was almost disappointed, but decided not to tell her anything yet- just in case interesting things start happening. "Exactly- look, they're pink now," I said, trying to sound as convincing as possible. "This sounds like the, uh, Pink-Eyed Death! It's really rare, but it kills!"

Flutterpaw stopped in her tracks, her mouth slightly open and hanging in horror. One plus thing about her: she believes literally everything that I say. "Oh, no! How much time do I have left?"

"Girls, what are you doing over there?" The voice of my mom called out. Just before she arrived, I whispered quickly to Flutterpaw, "Go to Brightpool and tell her your situation. She's the only one that can help you now."

"Glowkit!" Sparrowchirp's voice sounded very irritated. "Quit bothering Flutterpaw! She has plenty of things to do in the Storm-Calmer den without you messing around. Get back here, right now."

I sighed, padding forward to my cross-looking mom, but not before I caught a glimpse of my panicking sister: she was running fast as she could, yelling something as she approached Brightpool's tiny figure all the way on the other side of the camp. I smiled. Interesting things were going to happen, indeed. "Coming," I said.

Sparrowchirp sighed. "I understand that this is hard for you, but she has a lot of things to do now that she is a Reflection, and we must respect that. However, I also have something else to talk to you about."

I knew this was coming, so I just shrugged, following her as she wove her way through the now disparting crowd to the Younglings' Sanctuary where I was going to be lodging for five more days. Great job, I thought to myself. "I know," I finally said as soon as we ducked our heads under the entrance. Huh, even I had to duck now? Maybe I really was too big to fit in here anymore. The thought made me feel uncomfortable, mostly because I had never been described as "big" before.

My mom clearly felt the same way, because she winced a little bit when I bumped against the ceiling- even for just a few moments. "Glowkit," she said solemnly, like she was starting a funeral. "Do you actually know what codes are, and more importantly-" she leaned in closer to me- "what ours is?"

I tried to look as bored as possible, but the fact was, I was interested. "Nah, not really," I said, and this time, I was actually telling the truth. I wanted to see what came next.

"I expected so," Sparrowchirp sighed. "It is an important part of our clan as a whole, and we, over the course of history-"

She was interrupted by a loud commotion just outside the entrance, and what sounded like sobbing and desperate shouting. Some heartbeats later, Flutterpaw was dragged in, her expression confused with Brightpool and two of the Golden Rays behind her. "She was saying something about a Pink-Side Bet," Brightpool explained. "I thought I made it clear last moon that there was to be absolutely no betting in my den and-"

"No!" Flutterpaw shrieked. "The Pink-Eyed Death!"

"I gotta go," I said before anyone could say anything else. Just before my head bumped against the ceiling for the third time today, I whispered to her silently, so that no one apart from her could hear it: "Gotcha."


	3. Chasing and Stories

**I thank all of you reading this... because I assume that if you are, then you have read the previous chapter and liked it, or at least not hated it. Or not.**

 **Oh, and Flower, my devoted guest reviewer: I'm not very good at summaries, but the full story is currently in FictionPress, and my username is Stormshadow3 there as well. Just to let you know, I have a copy of it in Google Docs and that's where I make the edits. I never bother to edit on FictionPress, so some of the content will be crappy.**

 **I thought this would get no attention at all... you know, with me being inactive and stuff, but apparently I was wrong.**

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Chapter 2

Memories come, but my dad never does. I remember him fine, alright. Stiff, tawny fur, narrowed yellow eyes, and a slight curve on the edge where his neck and back met. Spruceshadow, my father; he never smiled or talked much- well, I've never seen him do it, but I didn't mind. He had things on his mind, I knew he loved me, and that was the end of that.

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There was a stunned silence as I slipped out quietly through the Younglings' Sanctuary entrance. The thick brambles the Bats had strung around the top would have kept invading enemies out well enough, I thought. That was their nickname, anyway. I still don't really get it. "But they're cats!" I said one time.

Mom then huffed and glanced back at the gloom-looking inhabitants, one of which were now carrying a delicious-looking rabbit to Creekstar's den. "They're prisoners of war, Glowkit," she said, not sounding very concerned. "They should be glad that having to clean out the Retired's Den is all they have to do."

There was a muffled sound, perhaps shouting behind me, and I was jerked back to the present. "You fox-heart!" a voice that sounded suspiciously like Flutterpaw's rang out. "I'll get you for this!"

I started running away as fast as I could. There was a muted murmur of discussion in the background, and then finally, a shout. "Glowkit! Come back here!" It was my mom.

Not happening, I thought, willing myself to go faster. Some of the Golden Rays carrying mouthfuls of prey stopped in their tracks, and watched me in astonishment as I darted towards the camp entrance.

More muffled yells from behind. I paused, skittering on the dust, and knew that I was in big trouble. But where could I go? I didn't want to go outside. Glancing desperately around me, I finally made my decision. Sprinting towards the Retired's Den in my last breaths of air, I collapsed, panting.

Let's just say that Reedflower was not in her best mood to find a kit bursting into her private den and pouncing on her limp, snoring body. Jerking out of her sleep, she mumbled something about catmint before swatting at me carelessly. "What're you doin' her'?"

I didn't answer, instead choosing to duck behind Clouddrifter- who was conveniently my mother's father and apparently ate too many a mice in the past few moons. Not caring that I was being squashed under my grandpa's behind, I peered out through the entrance to find that the commotion appeared to have died down: at least, no one was chasing me anymore.

"Get back ov'r to yor own den," Reedflower growled. But I still waited. Several moments passed by, and when I was certain that no one was on my trail, I began relaxing and untangled myself from Clouddrifter's tail.

"Evening," I greeted as respectfully as I could.

She snorted, and her old bones started creaking. "Reminds me of your father when he was a young little kitten like yourself," she muttered. I stiffened. I still hadn't fully recovered from the accident three moons ago. "How did he die?" I asked, unexpectedly.

Reedflower tilted her head. "Really? He probably got eaten by some nasty creature of the dark. That's how it always ends: with someone bein' eaten, or bein' eaten alive, for that matter."

"Reedflower!" Clouddrifter scolded, tail twitching and whiskers trembling. "Don't say things like that! The youngster will get nightmares for several moons on end!"

She was, however, oblivious to what he had just said. "One time, he jus' went off on a patrol. Gone, just like that, but we don't know the details of what might have happened. Wish we did, though. Could have found his body then and given him a proper funeral, but nah. The thing probably would have been rotting and infested with maggots by then-"

"That's really enough. I'm sure the youngling's curiosity is cured now," Clouddrifter interrupted, pushing her out of my way.

It wasn't, and I knew it. "But... there were no clues or anything?" I asked, ignoring my grandpa's sighs beside me. Reedflower's face broke out into a slight smile: probably hadn't had such a dedicated audience for many countless moons.

"Well," she began, "that's the thing: there was absolutely nothing. Sad story, I tell you. He was a wonderful tom when it came right down to it... although he was a big greedy when it came to the chaffinches." She sniffed. "Neverless, I can't blame him, can I? Hey, where're you goin'?"

I pushed my way past the two elders and hopped out into the camp clearing. "Hey, wait!" Reedflower yelled. "Oh, bother, guess it is like father like daughter... never knew she had a thing for chaffinches, but it's not dinner yet! Wait!"

I need to go find him. The thought rang in my mind, louder and clearer. I had to bring him back. Shouts, shrieks, yowls, it all became muffled to me. Where was he when I wanted him? _Probably would have been rotting and infested with maggots by then._ Thanks, that was reassuring, I thought, but a more important, more urgent question came into my mind: was he already dead?

I didn't get very far. Tiny claws grabbed at my pelt, and I turned around to see a squealing Flutterpaw along with Sparrowchirp behind me, looking (let's say) a bit more grumpy than usual. "Get back to your den, right now!" she commanded, "and, for SunClan's sake- stop crying."

For the first time, I seemed to notice the transparent drops of tears rolling down my cheek. I squirmed around uncomfortably, trying to wipe them off, but Flutterpaw had already noticed them and were taking them the wrong way. "I told you you were going to pay for that one!" she squealed excitedly.

I tried to not pay her too much attention. I'll find you, I thought with stubborn convincement. I'll find you, and then you'll go back with me and never disappear again the way you did, only three moons ago.


	4. Mentors and Training Sessions

**I will be updating fairly often, a few days at the most... what was that? *counts* This is my 18th story, and none of them are one-shots! Hooray! I would be writing fanfics for other categories, though... soon.**

 **Oh, and thanks for all the support. I didn't think I would be making my way back to the fanfiction world so fast.**

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Chapter 3

Sometimes the world just seems to go too slow; and other times, too fast for comfort. Sometimes the feeling lasts a day, or two days, or- five entire days.

I was crouched at the bottom of the Great Peak, and really, I didn't know why it was called that as it was practically just a boulder, but apparently it was important and stuff, so there I was. Creekstar was perched upon it, and he looked like he wanted to get this over as fast as possible. "Today, we have come for a ceremony!" he yowled.

Maybe it was just me, but he didn't sound very enthusiastic. "Glowkit, step forward," he commanded.

I did as he told me to, and a wave of cats parted around me. "You have reached the age of six moons, and I will proclaim you as Sparrow Wing in return." Well, five days past six. "Glowkit, are you ready to be a Sparrow Wing?"

"Yeah," I said. Don't say any more than you need to, otherwise we might be conducting this ceremony again when I become ten moons old or something. I didn't think even I could stand to wait that long.

Creekstar nodded. "Then under the shine of our holy SunClan, you shall be known as Glowpaw until your wings take you to the golden rays of the sky. Your mentor shall be Leaf. Let us cheer for this new Sparrow Wing!"

Hesitantly, the crowd began to shout. "Glowpaw! Glowpaw!"

Sparrowchirp let out a deep breath, and I realized that she had been holding it this whole time. "It's fine, mom," I said, before I realized that she looked angry- and disappointed. "Leaf? Him?" she hissed under her breath.

I didn't know what was wrong- couldn't a cat have an unusual name? Creekstar swished his tail around in dismissal, and the crowd went silent again. "Touch noses, you two!"

Slowly, protests began breaking out as a small mottled tom with several scars on his flank and a shredded eye came out of the shadows to approach me in the middle. I heard it all. "But he can't be Glowpaw's mentor! He's not even a Golden Ray!" "Creekstar's gotten confused in the last few moons..." "Maybe it's time for his Chasing Cloud to take over?"

It was then that I realized what was wrong. I remembered that face well. He was changing my nest then, dragging out the dirty pieces and then replacing it with fresh moss. I only saw him once, but the memory stuck.

Leaf was a prisoner of war.

"Silence!" Creekstar roared. "It is only the sensible thing to do. I already have an apprentice, Swanlake has one too, our Golden Rays are either too young to mentor or killed in the last... accident." His voice trembled at the end. "We lost many of our fine cats, and Leaf will make a fine replacement. He has been here for a long time, and I trust that he will stay loyal to our clan."

I wasn't sure, but I think I might have heard a "what has he left to return to?" at the end.

There was silence for a moment, and then the crowd began to murmur among themselves. Creekstar waited, and after a few more moments, all was still again. "Continue the ceremony," he said finally, gesturing with his tail at me.

I gulped, and bowed my head low just as Leaf- he had been silent this whole time, hasn't he?- bowed his too and just like that, we touched noses. I reeled back as soon as possible, and he didn't seem offended. Probably used to it a lot, I thought, and then I suddenly felt guilty.

I expected the crowd to burst into cheers again, but apparently everyone was already feeling past that point, because Creekstar just waved his shaggy gray tail a second time and cats began disparting around us. Soon, the only ones that were still in the clearing was me, Sparrowchirp, and Leaf, standing alone in the middle of the camp.

My mom was the first to speak up- or whisper up, in this case- as she leaned in towards me and hissed softly, "I still don't like the look of him. Be careful." With that, she turned and headed away with a dismissive huff.

Now we were alone, and Leaf cleared his throat tentively. "I have been trained by Creekstar himself," he said, in a matter-of-factly tone. "I assure you, you can trust me in my training enough so that your minds may be put to rest."

He had a strange accent, I thought. On some words, he appeared to pause and waver for a moment, as if unsure what should happen next. "You talk strange," I said boldly. "Where did you live before you came here?" It was only later that I realized that question might have hurt him more than I thought it would.

Leaf shifted uncomfortably. His paws were pattering on the dusty ground, as if anxious to move on. "Glowpaw," he said slowly, "today, all we're going to do is going around the territory, and see what we learn along the way. Come on."

"Have you even been outside the camp yourself?" I asked, not meaning to say it out loud. He didn't answer. Either he didn't hear me or he did and he just didn't want to answer, and I had a feeling it was the latter. Instead of replying, he turned around and headed for the outside forest. "I'm waiting."

Oh my SunClan, I already know, can't you sound more enthusiastic for a change? I thought. I glanced to my right, and saw a couple of other Sparrow Wings with their mentors. They sure look happier than me. Fernpaw was sitting beside Clearwing- probably learning the hunting crouch, and Brackenpaw was there, too. His mentor was probably out for the day. Dusteye was always sick or injured or something else entirely.

Just like that, we set off. The sun was shining bright overhead, but it soon disappeared as we started trekking under the thick trees that surrounded the outer portion of the territory. I frowned. "Leaf- I mean, I don't think this is where we're supposed to go." When he glared at me, I hurried on. "The other Sparrow Wings always go for the moor."

"Then that's them, not us," he replied simply. "Your only job is to follow me, and I'm deciding that we go along this side first. We'll end up at the camp anyways. So, why do you care?"

I shrugged. I didn't have much to say. "I dunno, and sure."

We started walking again. More walking, yet heading in the completely opposite direction.


	5. Rabbits and Eavesdropping

**Two favorites so far already... 0.0 Maybe more, and I just didn't check. Oh, well.**

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Chapter 4

I paused as the trees began to get thicker still and the shadows darkened with every step. "How far are we until we can get back to camp?" I asked.

Leaf didn't answer for a while. I noticed that his dark amber eyes seemed to dart from one place to another, like leaping frogs, as if he was looking out for danger. Or maybe he already knew there was a danger here and he was actively looking for it- which was not a comforting thought. "Just a while longer," he finally said, stopping along with me beside a rather large maple tree. "You see this tree? That's the thing marking the near edge of our territory. Come on, we're heading towards the moor now."

Still, he seemed hesitant as we wove our way out to the open paths and the fast growing heather, and I wanted to know why. "You seemed nervous back at the forest," I offered. "Was that the place where you were caught? Or where the battle took place?"

Leaf didn't need me to say which battle. I knew that he knew it by his heart, like a scar that will never quite heal. "It's not something that apprenti- I mean, Sparrow Wings should know, or any cat in this place should know. My only job is to mentor you, not to feed you silly stories like that."

"What was the apprenti-thing?" I asked, my eyes widening. "You did have another home."

"That's enough of that!" he snapped, pausing to leap over a fallen log. Sniffing at something far away on the distant horizon, Leaf situated himself down at the foot of a large boulder. "Look. Seems like they've found a rather large rabbit. Would feed quite a lot of cats back at camp."

I nodded slowly. The approaching patrol was now catching up, and one of them yelped as he tripped over something and fell down flat. The rest of the cats kept going on the chase. The rabbit was turning, one way and then the other, or suddenly twisting and heading in the opposite direction. It did, however, look like it was heading straight for us.

"Leaf," I said hesitantly, "should we move? We don't want to disturb the hunt."

I watched him, eyes fixed on his muzzle for a few tight seconds, and then he stood up, brushing the dust off of his fur. "You're right," he muttered. "Come on." We began step-siding to the right, toward the edge of the territory, and soon, several shouts rang out near my ear and there the patrol went, leaving nothing but a slight breeze in the still air.

"Looks like they got the poor thing," Leaf commented. "Creekstar would be very pleased."

Something about the way he said "Creekstar" unsettled me. "Do you know him particularly well?" I asked, because the question just seemed relevant enough at the time.

Leaf sighed. "Yes or no, it wouldn't matter, because that's none of your business and we're going back camp, right now. It's getting late. We don't want to be wandering around out here in the dark."

The sun was still at the top of its journey, suspended right over our heads so that it cast tiny shadows across the peaty ground, but I wasn't about to tell him any time soon. "Sure," I finally said. "Fine."

We trekked forward in mostly silence, until I couldn't stand it any more. I was never one for long periods of no talking. "So, what are going to do tomorrow?" I asked, since I couldn't think of any subjects which to speak about.

"You'll find out when the time comes," Leaf snapped. "We're nearly back now, so be quiet. In my time and age, apprentices kept silent and waited for further instructions from their mentors."

That sounds boring, I thought, but I could tell that he wasn't in the mood for my comments. Was he ever? Leaf just looked like one of those cats that seem like they had always been old. Maybe he was. However, he appeared oblivious to my lack of interest.

"Of course, that was nothing compared to what some other cats did. Necessary, I say, necessary. Some would say those times were cruel for young cats, but weren't we all once?" he chuckled.

I was about to interrupt, when the camp appeared in front of us and, with a squint of my eyes, I noticed that _somecat_ was waiting there at the entrance.

Soon, Creekstar's looming figure stopped us in our tracks. "How was the first day?" he asked me absentmindedly, then turned to Leaf with a frown. "Let's go in my den for a while. Just to, uh, clear up some things about mentorship and make sure we're all good to go."

Leaf bowed his head. "Of course," he said quickly, then turned to leave. I watched them go through the Shooting Star Den. What things of interest could they possibly talk about?

I eyed the fresh-kill pile as the patrol with the rabbit came in, exhausted and carrying another fairly fat mouse and dropped their share onto it. I wanted to share that rabbit with Flutterpaw, maybe to make up for the Pink-Eyed Death, but I doubted we could finish the whole thing off, and anyway, it was just the two of us.

I crept toward where Leaf's voice and Creekstar's could now be heard, soft but still indistinguishable from each other. Bending down, I listened.


	6. Suspicion and Magpies

**Sorry for not updating in so long! I'm usually a fast updater, but stuff is happening. Holidays and such. I have an idea of what I would do for the third chapter of More Mary-Sue Stories For U, but, you know, laziness.**

 **So anyways. Let's continue.**

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Chapter 5

"We had this conversation countless times before, Creekstar." That was Leaf. I pricked my ears and squatted low against the den walls so that I could listen without anyone finding out.

Someone sighed through the thick mesh of roots and tangled undergrowth that made up the den. Probably Creekstar. "Tiger, don't call me that. You know as well as I do that you are not Leaf, either."

What were they talking about? I wondered. Maybe they were some kind of Sun-Spirit that were watching over us? But why would they deny their identity? "Creekstar-"

"I'm leaving. Need to take a dose of some fresh air," he announced, cutting Leaf off. There was a patter of footsteps inside the den, and I stood up abruptly to leave, but it was too late. Just as I turned around and made my first step away, Creekstar peeked outside the entrance- in my direction- and frowned. "Glowpaw. You are not supposed to be here."

Oh, SunClan save me, I thought. "I heard everything," I said, because I knew that denying anything was useless. I might as well get something out of this, never mind that he would probably make me clean out the elder's ticks- or worse. Who knows?

"Oh, you did?" Creekstar was still frowning. "But you know that you're not supposed to be here."

Gulp. I remembered that offense was usually the best kind of defense. "But my leader is a Sun-Spirit, and having a ghost in our clan sounds like something I would like to know about," I retorted.

I don't know what I was expecting. Did I think he was going to start trembling and make me promise that I would never tell anyone? Instead, he looked as if I had never said anything. That's the annoying thing about Creekstar. He's always calm, no matter what happens. Good sign of leadership, I guessed.

"What are you talking about?" His face looked blank. I searched for any signs that he was lying, but either he was made of stone or he was really telling the truth. "We were just chatting about life, really. What's all this about ghosts?"

Ghosts, I knew, were unsettled spirits that had lost their way and were now forced to wander forever in the land of the still living. "Yes, ghosts," I said. "Is Leaf one of them? What about you?"

Creekstar looked amused. "Yes, we're ghosts. Now hurry up and go do something useful for once."

Risking one last uncertain glance back at my leader's face, I turned around and hurried away quickly towards the fresh-kill pile, where Flutterpaw was eating a rotten-looking magpie with what appeared to be her friend. This was going to be interesting indeed.

Several paces back, Leaf appeared out of the Shooting Star den entrance and stood alongside Creekstar. "That's how you get rid of an annoying apprentice who won't do anything they're told to do," he growled.

Creekstar's fur along his spine rose up so that now it looked as if jagged, tall and ridiculously thin mountains were rising out of his back. "Do not mention the word 'apprentice.' I'm warning you right now."

"Yes, master," Leaf meowed mockingly. "Right as you say it."

Creekstar glowered at him for a few moments longer, then let his lingering gaze turn to where the Golden Ray Den was sitting. It was bathed in sunshine, and a few dead-looking bushes clung to its sides. "Then off you go."

Leaf stifled a yawn and began moving in the direction that his leader had commanded him to go in, but still, something inside him felt that this was wrong. He hated Creekstar. No, he was supposed to hate him.

Maybe the rubbish that they always talked about had more truth in them than he gave them credit for.

OoOoO

I padded over to Flutterpaw and plopped down next to her, shifting uncomfortably at the sight of her new friend. I forgot what her name actually was, but I had memories of her, very vague memories, that is.

Her pelt was dark gray, unlike the rest of the clan, which all had mostly lighter fur colors, but she didn't mind. She didn't look much like her parents, either. Ginger and brown do not make gray, the last time I checked. "Hey," she said in a matter-of-factly sort of tone.

"Hey," I replied after a few moments of silence. I prodded at the rest of the fresh-kill pile in a bored manner: a finch and a couple of voles weren't much, and I didn't like voles anyway, to say the least.

It was Flutterpaw who finally broke the silence. "Should we introduce ourselves first?" she asked.

I shrugged, then turned to look at the gray-pelted friend. "What's your name? I'm Glowpaw."

"Pebblepaw," she replied. I tilted my head in surprise. Hers was an usual one. Usually, parents would have named their kits something relating to the light- for good luck and tradition and stuff.

Pebblepaw seemed to sense my curiosity, because she lowered her head and began glowering at me. "None of your business what happened at my birth. I wouldn't have asked that about you, either, so go away."

Well, that was curt, I thought sheepishly. "I didn't say anything. You are assuming from my expression that I am interested in your personal life, which I am not."

"Go away, I said!" Pebblepaw growled. Her voice rose to a higher pitch when she became angry, I noted. Interesting. Maybe I really did make her feel bad somehow.

I just shrugged. Tried to shrug, anyway, but my shoulders seemed tighter than usual. Like they wanted to do something else. "I'm not going to. Flutterpaw's my sister."

Right at that moment, Flutterpaw choked on her magpie and sent pieces of half-chewed bird flying everywhere. One landed on my nose, and I brushed it away, standing up as I did so. She looked sheepish. "Sorry," she mumbled.

There was something pounding in my ears, like water. Water attacking the cliff shores and sending rocks tumbling down into the sea below. I had never felt this way before.

Then I lifted a paw and brought it down on Pebblepaw's face. Claws and all.


	7. Clawing and Stillness

Chapter 6

My claws ripped at her pelt, then soft flesh, and Pebblepaw screeched in pain. Pieces of ragged gray fur was flying, and I could hear Flutterpaw screaming something in the distance; probably couldn't do anything anyway.

I could hear someone screeching in the background, but I wasn't sure; it might have just been Flutterpaw for all I knew, but the voice sounded desperate and I slowed down a little. Pebblepaw took the opportunity to break away from my grasp and unsheathe her own claws. "You little rascal!" she was crying. "Come over here and I'll tear both of your ears off!"

I still felt uncertain as of if I should claw her some more to shut her up, but before I could make a decision, a tall shadow loomed over me and all my anger just seemed to evaporate away. "Glowpaw," Sparrowchirp meowed in that way-too-calm, you-are-in-trouble sort of tone. "Come over here, right now."

Something about that voice mad me stand up and pad over to where my mom was glaring down at me. "Pebblepaw was stealing my sister," I said.

"Glowpaw," she said again, in that same tone. "I'll tell you a story. Maybe that would make you feel better. Come." She turned around, and swiped the overhanging lichen from the top of the Youngling's Sanctuary. Some of the colorful pieces broke off and scattered at my feet. "In."

I felt like I should say something, but Sparrowchirp's eyes were practically boring into my back and I felt obliged to obey her command. I didn't even feel like objecting that I wasn't even a kit anymore. Ducking my head down low- in which I stole a glare at her- I watched as my mom single-filed in after me. "Sit down over here," she said, her tail swishing over the place where my old nest used to be.

I did as she was told. The cold, and slightly wet earth beneath me was uncomfortable to say the least, and I couldn't help myself from twitching in my seat as Sparrowchirp took a spot right across from me. "Sister-stealing is kind of a big offense," I said, more uncertainly this time.

Like last time, she didn't seem to be able to hear me. "I need to tell you something, Glowpaw," she said. I never thought that her amber eyes could look even more fiery than now. "Listen, and listen at least moderately well, for this is important."

I leaned in, my interest growing, but instead of saying anything, she unsheathed her claws and cuffed me around the ears- hard. I yowled in surprise, shoving her away from me, but she just growled in satisfaction and the hairs lined up on her spine relaxed, falling down. "Did you really think I was going to tell you some kind of elder-wisdom? When I'm old like that myself, maybe I would have considered it. Get out."

I didn't need her to tell me that a second time. Shuffling back onto my paws as fast as I could- probably in record time, but too bad I wasn't counting the heartbeats- I scrambled out of the den to meet a smug-faced Pebblepaw with her tail sweeping across the top of Flutterpaw's back. "I heard something happening in there."

"Something about water filling up in your head, that's what," I muttered. I wish I had made it more audible, though, because she didn't seem to have heard it. Or maybe she did and she was the greatest actor in disguise, because she just smirked and padded away, where her mentor, Lotusleaf was waiting.

Flutterpaw remained seated. I thought about looking away, maybe pretending to look at something in the distance, but her stare was disturbing and I decided to face her challenge face-on; narrowing my eyes, face leaning forward, paws tucked in.

There passed a few seconds before she finally looked away. "Stop. You're embarrassing me to death." There began some kind of commotion near the camp entrance, but I was so focused on my sister that I didn't look up once.

"Nah, thought you'd like the drama points you just earned," I said, trying to sound offended while also attempting to decide if she really had hurt my feelings. Maybe just a little bit, I thought at last. "They might help your popularity, just saying."

Now, some cats were starting to appear out of their dens, muttering among themselves and joining the group at the front.

"Seriously, go away," Flutterpaw meowed quietly, her half-sheathed claws scratching into the dust of the now-empty clearing. Strange, I thought. The camp usually was never this isolated; there were always cats moving around and kits play-fighting and elders snoring, above all. Strange, as the place was practically buzzing with activity just a few moments ago. Sunspots loved to argue, too. Sometimes the quarrels would last for many days and nights. But I didn't pay much attention to this.

"You, my sister, are officially being mean now," I said, suddenly realizing that I sounded whiny. (Oh, who cared- everyone acts whiny every few moons. Everyone. Even the best of us.)

Flutterpaw huffed. "You started it, so you deserved it." Even so, she seemed a bit more sheepish sounding now, as if she had just realized the potential of her words. "Besides, I wasn't there in that old den when Mom..."

That seemed to make something inside my brain awaken. My mom. Was she still back there? Was she listening to our conversations even now? Maybe she was just sleeping... I glanced backwards, expecting to see her dark outline against the light colors of the fallen birch tree that was the Youngling's Sanctuary, but it didn't seem to be there.

I didn't know why, but something about that fact worried me. Even Flutterpaw had fallen silent now, and as I rounded the corner of the den's entrance, I could see that she was nowhere in sight. "Mom is not in the den anymore," I suddenly said. "Maybe she went on patrol."

"Glowpaw," my sister said slowly. "The whole camp is so quiet. Did everyone just happen to go out all at the same time?"

I felt a cold shiver down my spine. "I don't think so. Where is everybody?"


	8. Battles and Relationships

**Have you noticed something?**

 **The longer a chapter is and the more words it has, the less reviews. It's been that way for many of my stories and other people's stories. I still don't get why. Is that a part of psychology?**

 **Today, I'm going to go big and make a really long chapter because I feel like it. Prove me wrong. Show me that long chapters can also have reviews.**

* * *

Chapter 7

Flutterpaw was panicking, that much I could tell from her frozen expression. Her light gray paws were rooted to the ground, and the fur along the top of her spine bristled and rose up like the upmost part of a ridge. "I- I don't know!" she cried, finally taking a step back. "Should we go look for them?"

I pushed her aside as I passed along her, my fur brushing with hers. I didn't pause to answer, even for a single moment. I could feel her eyes boring into my back, however, and they were with me the whole time while I padded to the camp entrance.

When I peeked outside and saw nothing except for the rustling of leaves in the oak trees beyond and the bright flashes as birds sped between them, I shrugged and finally answered her. "I don't know about you. But I'm going."

Ignoring her indignant protests- something about paw prints- I began making my way out into the forest. There was a slight breeze today, but I didn't mind, not at all. It was comforting and helped me relax a bit more. Straining my ears to listen, I could now indeed start to hear some kind of commotion going on near the border.

I was surprised. LightClan didn't usually have enemies- we were a self-reliant clan, as my mom always said, and no one, absolutely no one dares to enter the lush space that was our territory. I glanced back, but Fluttpaw was nowhere to be seen.

Guess it was my turn to explore this time.

Turning my attention back to the scene ahead, I began padding forward. Just as about the camp was almost out of sight, a dark brown mouse shot past right in front of my paws, and I swatted at it absentmindedly. I missed, and it ducked away into the undergrowth with a rustle.

I sniffed at the air. The noise near the border was definitely growing louder, yet there was the scent of something strange in the air. My blood almost froze still. Intruders. Had they really gone this far already?

I began running faster. Trees brushed past me, and the occasional thorn snagged in my pelt, but I kept going despite what Mother Nature was trying to imply. The wind was dying down, and I suddenly felt hot. Sunshine was always great, but sometimes it just gets to be too much.

I burst out from between several interlacing fronds of thick, swampy ferns, and I emerged into a heated battle. Beside my own clanmates, there were cats of many pelt colors; weaving in and out, and they seemed to be faster and more well-trained than we were.

I didn't pause to think. Leaf had never taught me how to fight yet, but I always assumed that fighting was just a natural cat instinct and that I would know as soon as my life depended on it. Yowling like all of SunClan- even though it really sounded more like a shrill, desperate shriek- I leapt up into the air and dropped, literally, into the midst of the battle.

I expected to just start slashing and rolling and dodging away, but instead the first thing I did was to get crushed. Maybe I should have thought more about the seemingly endless friends and enemies that came from every direction, but it was already too late. My face was immediately squashed under what seemed like someone's bottom, and my hind leg felt like it was sat on.

There was a splintering sound, and in that moment I was pretty sure all my limbs were going to be broken in about five more heartbeats. **Read the message at the top.**

I yowled again- this time in agony. Not that the one before it was much of a battle cry. There was a fire in my bones, a twisted sensation, and then the weight was finally lifted off of me. Scrabbling away with my now partly unsheathed claws, I managed to crawl to the point where I was in no clear danger of being squashed anymore.

My right leg was still hurting badly, though. I tried not to whimper- and certainly not cry- but I was already failing spectacularly. Tears were squeezing out of my eyes against my will, and I unsuccessfully brushed them away on a nearby leaf.

It was right in front of my face, and was practically asking for it.

Suddenly, the shadow of _something_ appeared behind me, and my whole body was covered in darkness for the few seconds before long, ebony claws were fastened onto my shoulders and digging into my flesh. I had a brief remembrance of doing this myself to Pebblepaw; thank you for the memory, brain, I was thinking. It was very helpful while I was being sliced apart. Thank you, ahem.

I couldn't do anything. Something struggled to make its way up to the front of my mind, but I couldn't see it clearly. The claws that were wreaking havoc on my already-tormented body were not helping, either. Something about rolling...

Whoever it was kicked their hind legs so that I was totally pinned to the ground- belly down, thank goodness. Finally, I couldn't stand it anymore. The pain was killing me, and it probably would have killed me very soon if I hadn't done anything.

I screamed. My voice was fresh from not speaking the whole way through the forest territories, and now, it was proving its worth. There were no words in the scream, however, and if there were, they were mainly gibberish.

I remember that my head was turned sideways. The attacker was right on top of me, and his eardrums happened to be fairly close to my open mouth. He paused. Something warm and sticky dripped down my sides, and my first thought was, 'Eew!'

Instead of something else, like, I don't know. 'Oh, I'm bleeding! I'm in trouble! Help!'

My attacker began loosening his grip until he was completely off me, but I could tell that he wasn't done with me yet. He growled, a very low sound compared to my shrill scream. "Nice vocals you got there."

I waited, lying down, waiting for him to go find his next victim. I had lost all feeling in my right leg, and I was anxious to go run back to the camp. Yes, call me a coward, but I still didn't know who I was supposed to be fighting, or what I was doing.

He didn't move. I could sense his shadow, still there, inflitting. Eventually, I felt uncomfortable in the position that I was currently in, so I rolled over and tried to ignore the pain that was literally everywhere. "Who are you?" I asked with as much dignity as I could muster for someone who had been recently squashed and sliced apart.

My attacker glowered at me, his face low and kept hidden. Still, there was something familiar about the way his shoulders moved and tensed and relaxed, and the careful way he put his expression. Like he wanted to keep it away from all others. "Nothing that can be of your concern, or will ever be," he snarled.

I hardly paid attention to his answer. Everything that I had on me was either badly injured or felt completely frozen. My mouth was of the latter group. I could hardly open it, not to mention stutter or form a complete sentence. "But..."

He growled. "Crash, take her back right away."

"Dad..." My voice was found.


	9. Dens and Interrogation

**The last chapter was just sad, honestly. I had never had to ask for reviews before.** **Questions and answers, coming up!**

 **Hayjay5304: Hm, let's see about that. Glowpaw and her father hasn't seen each other in 4-5 moons, and her back was turned when she was attacked. Overall, you'll see when you read further.**

 **Flower: Thank you! No need to review two times on a single chapter, though. XD**

* * *

Chapter 8

"Dad... do you remember me..." I didn't think he could hear me, but it was more of something that I wanted to hear from myself.

That was the last thing I remember doing before I blacked out, anyway. The next time I came to, it was still dark. I don't think I had any dreams, but that was exactly the problem. I couldn't tell left from right anymore.

I was alone. That much I could tell. It took a bit of getting used to, but soon the blurriness that swam in front of my vision began disappearing and my eyes started to pick up on some details.

First of all, the den I was passed out in- if you could call it that- was clearly not the best the camp could hold. Or wherever I was, anyway. Location matters. There wasn't even a moss bed for me to lie down in. The only thing there was in this place was a half-frozen shrew a few tail-lengths away from me.

I squinted, staring at the prey and trying to decide if it was worth eating, when I suddenly heard footsteps thudding outside- and they seemed to be approaching fast. Hiding the shrew behind my back- I wasn't sure why- it was just in time before my father stepped inside the heavily guarded entrance and stopped. Right in front of me.

He nodded at a muscle-bounded tom by the side of the den, who was peering in cautiously. Soon, he too disappeared. We were the only two cats left in this tight place. Great father-daughter bonding experience, I thought dryly.

"So, Scream." He paused. "I assume you know who I am. My name is not Spruceshadow anymore, mind you. Memories of that clan must fade away. Many know- or knew- me by the name of Cliff, and more by Fall. I will respond to both."

"My name is not Scream, either," I said, because it was the honest truth. "It's Glowpaw. Of LightClan. You were born there too."

Cliff-Fall shook his head and growled. "It was not safe for me to live in that clan anymore. StarClan has warned me against this very moment. Prophecies and omens, they're all over the place nowadays."

Something about the word 'prophecies' caught my attention. Maybe because they were almost never mentioned in LightClan. But before I could ask him anything, he lifted his head slightly, as if to say, 'You shut up and listen and I talk.' I was used to that look, having been with my mom everyday and every night, so I did as he commanded me to.

"You help tell us what the danger is, at least give us some clues, and I'll let you go, garrenteed," Cliff-Fall said. He seemed serious, anyway, so I nodded to let him go on. He continued. Probably would have anyway. "SunClan is a sham. StarClan has been giving us visions, omens, prophecies of the future, and I see it all."

"Some of the Dark Forest cats have been-"

"Wait, wait, wait," I interrupted. "What's the Dark Forest? Is that like the Dark Side of the Moon?

Cliff-Fall nodded, barely looking at me. "Some of the Dark Forest cats have apparently found a secret way of being reborn into another life. Most, however, have already had enough of murder and the reek of blood. They just wanted a second chance."

"However." He paused. "StarClan has been growing increasingly worried about this phenomenon. What if the evil once again strikes the forest? They sent dark omens for the medicine cats- the healers of the clan- and eventually a group of cats- cowards, all of them, mostly from the ShadowClan of old- they broke off and went away to find a place where only good wills and intentions will remain. That group eventually became LightClan."

He spat at the mention of it. "Like that would ever happen. Distrusting cats they are, too! Just trying to ask a patrol some questions, but apparently they brought the whole clan with them some moments later. Those cowards must have panicked the whole group with their rumors and yodeling. But some of the reborn Dark Forest cats have made their way even to the middle of there, and we need to find out more about this. Now tell me."

Cliff-Fall leaned in closer. "Do you know anyone that could possibly be a suspect? We're just a group that wants the best for everyone," he added. "Mostly _LightClan_ cats that have escaped. Wild tales about dangerous monsters have filled in on the missing details."

My head was spinning with new information, along with regret for not noticing when everyone filed out of the camp entrance. I wanted to ask him what ShadowClan was, but right now, there were only two names in my mind: Creekstar and Leaf. But Creekstar could not have been evil in a former life, I thought, even if he had changed his ways. "Yes, but what are you going to do to them then?"

Cliff-Fall's face became increasingly darker. "Tell me the names first. Now."

I thought about it for a moment. I didn't want to betray Creekstar just yet, even if he did come from the Dark Forest, but what about my own mentor? I hadn't really known Leaf for a long time, but I knew that he was not born in LightClan, and that was pretty much all. But he was my mentor, after all. "I'm not going to unless you answer my question first," I replied.

I wasn't sure what I was expecting him to do. Go pat me on the back and reassure me that I could tell him later, when I was ready? Or maybe actually answering the question, like I would have wanted him to do. Instead, he snarled.

"You are NOT going anywhere!" he growled, and unsheathed his claws. I flinched back.

I didn't understand why he did it until others told me, much later. Face to face. I was his daughter, after all; why would he want to hurt a single hair on my pelt after he had already recognized me? Maybe he was just really angry, but it wasn't like a dad to do that.

His explanation would also have explained why I didn't look like my mother at all- or him, for that matter.

Still growling deep inside his throat, he pounced onto me and pummeled me to the ground. The damp earth was uncomfortable, too moist for my likings and had a strange minty scent to it. "Tell me!" he snarled.

I struggled to breathe under his weight. "N- not until you answer my question first," I croaked.

His claws tapped at my shoulders once, twice, then thrice before digging them in. I couldn't feel pain, or maybe there was just too much of it. I still didn't know which, and as I winced-

* * *

 **Maybe I shouldn't have dropped the hint about Glowpaw's parentage so soon. Oh, well.**

 **From my predictions, we're already about halfway through the entire story. This is kind of sad, actually... I'm gonna make sequels. Maybe.**

 **Have questions? Then ask.**


	10. Explanations and Past

**I love this story. I'm keeping up even with school going on! :D  
**

 **Meowy Shadows: I'm a bit surprised at your review. I'm not saying ShadowClan have bad cats at all. Who says there even are bad cats? No cat is bad, just misleaded and misunderstood. Good and bad are all sides of the same story- and unreliable ways to tell which one is true. They're my favorite, actually. The plot just came to them, and who cares if Cliff-Fall doesn't like ShadowClan? He is not the narrator or me or the judge. Maybe he's the one that's misleaded. I just thought ShadowClan and LightClan would make a good ironic scene.**

 **I'm going to be doing books for the other clans, too.** **I did ShadowClan first because I like them the most.**

* * *

Chapter 9 **Read the message at top.**

I gasped for breath. My throat suddenly felt parched- and awfully exposed. It was surprising how quick a threat could make your brain think otherwise. "Uh, guh," I choked. I probably could say more, as his claws weren't on my throat (yet), but I just wanted him to get off of me entirely.

Narrowing his eyes, his tawny, dark-gray striped fur bristled along his neck, and then slowly dropped back down. His hazel eyes were still flashing distrust, however, and it didn't look like it was going anywhere anytime soon. "Fine, have it your way," he snarled, finally releasing his tight grip on me. I fell down backwards for a moment before regaining my balance and getting up on all fours. "I'll answer you question. Then your turn to speak. Got that little spiel?"

Nodding numbly, I leaned in closer to listen closely. "Then hear my words. I'm just going to give them a word of advice, nothing more, nothing less. 'Watch your step, because we're keeping an eye on you. Do anything funny, and you'll be in some real trouble soon.' That's all; after all..." his voice softened. "We just want the best. For... everyone."

Something about the way he paused before the word 'everyone' caught my attention and made me want to hesitate, but after a few more moments of decision and searching his eyes for truth, I found real love and hurt in there and began, carefully, "My mentor. He's been saying things like that to Creekstar. Something about other lives."

Oops. Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned the part about Creekstar, but now the words were out, and it was already too late. Cliff-Fall tightened his shoulders. "It's that old hag, Shinelake, isn't it?" he growled. It was an especially low sound coming from his throat, even for him. "I should have known."

"No... it's a prisoner of war called Leaf," I said, thinking fast. Shinelake? Couldn't say that I've never heard of her before. She had a spotless tortoiseshell fur, with unusual white spots like paws running along her pelt. Like those of a leopard- legend says that they were huge beasts that could tear a cat apart within heartbeats, but anyway, they were just legends. Shinelake always seemed a little snobbish to me, and she would have made a more Dark Forest-ish cat than Leaf; she was not as dark and mysterious, however.

There was a flash of satisfaction and also something that looked like doubt in his two, squinted, narrow eyes. "Hm, ah, yes, her."

Something about the way that he said it made it clear to me that he had absolutely no idea who we were really talking about. "Yeah, Leaf," I confirmed. "It's a 'he,' not a 'she,' by the way." I still was debating about whether or not I should trust my father so easily, but he seemed to have real emotion, and cats with emotion are more reasonable when arguing with them. Or the other way around, I wasn't sure of that yet. But the way he attacked me...

That didn't exactly sound like something a dad would do. "We'll... do something about her- I mean, him, then," Cliff-Fall said as he grimaced.

"What do you mean, do something about Leaf?" I asked suspiciously. "That, and what salt do you have on Shinepool? She never talks about you, and the elders never say anything about it. That's saying something, anyway. The elders know all the gossip around, and this sounds like one."

Cliff-Fall snapped. He was clearly on his last nerve. "I don't have any quarrel with her!" he roared, turning around. I watched, momentarily stunned, as he stormed out of the den entrance. Without another glance back at his own daughter, he told the guards briskly, "Do not tell her anything. I'm warning you."

No reply from the guards. There was a rustle as he headed between a stream of bushes into the rest of his camp, and then there was no more. Never tell someone to not do something, especially when that certain someone is a newly-trained apprentice whose name is Glowpaw, I thought craftily, approaching the two wary-looking cats who stood guard in front of the den entrance. "Hey, I mean- ahem," I said, pretending to cough. "Please tell me, young gentlemen... I have a strange question for you. What have been my father's love interests?"

The left one from my perspective, a decent-looking tawny tom with large, but dulled green eyes, shrugged as he exchanged glances with his friend to the right. "Uh, sorry, missy, I'm not sure if Larktoe and I are supposed to be talking about this to you just right now-"

"Oh, come now, _Duskleap_ ," Larktoe said in a particularly mocking voice. "Ze boss didn't order us to not tell her zat. Zey never talked about no love interests during ze whole conversation inside ze tiny, squished den." He nodded toward the space behind me. "You know your name is not really Duskleap, Lilac."

He had a funny accent about him, I pondered. Must be from somewhere else. Cats outside of LightClan were dangerous, I heard Reedflower say one day. They were ferocious beasts with long, curving fangs and horns growing from the top of their heads. She had just been getting excited by a story about an encounter with those supposed monsters when Clouddrifter promptly told her to shut up. You'll be scaring the kits, he scolded. Like he always does.

Larktoe didn't seem to have either of those qualities, but I was still wary. Kithood experiences and all.

Duskleap growled, but it was a playful growl, filled with love. "I see. Then you go on. I don't want to be the one to get in trouble."

"Be it your way," Larktoe said. Happily. "Zen the story will begin." He closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again a few heartbeats later. "Ze boss was always a picky little one. He never told me full story, no, but I do hear, zat the rumors are saying... zat once he set his eyes on a particularly attracting young she-cat, he never fell in love again, never. He had two kits in total, two and that was all, but he only loved one of them. StarClan knows why: isn't one newborn kit identical to another?"

That would not be me, I thought bitterly. Flutterpaw was always the best at everything, the nicest, the kindest, and the most caring, although not necessarily the most smartest. I could only assume that she had the same qualities as a small kit- however that worked.

But Larktoe was not finished yet. "Ze kit zat he loved, it soon vanished the night it was born. No one knows why. Just there in nursery one moment, and zen ze next, gone. Zere was nothing, no clues at all, no. But rumor has it that he knows something about disappearance, and-" he lowered his voice. Clearly, he shouldn't be talking about this to me right now.

"Zen, my boss knew it was unsafe for his remaining kit to stay with him- for reasons only he knows, so off he went. Swapped it with two kits of another litter, and of unsuspecting parent. Parents, ahem, I'm still not very fluent in zis language. It all happened in same night: pregnancy of two litters of two pairs of parents, disappearance, swapping. Ze mother that gave birth to other litter died during process, and ze father... out mourning by her body. Unsuspecting, as I said. He ended up thinking he lost one of his kits overnight, but that's a story for later. Never questioned why 'his' kit didn't look like him." He stopped, and took a deep breath. "Zat, is all I know."

My heart stopped in its place, frozen for what could be eternity for all I knew. "The remaining kit that was swapped by my father... was her name Pebblepaw, by any chance?"

* * *

 **Go back to the chapter where Pebblepaw was being described as opposed to her parents.**


	11. Meetings and Dark Surprises

**I'm gonna be done with this in no time! *starts singing* January 13, 2017 is today.**

* * *

Chapter 10

Larktoe shrugged. "How should I be supposed to know, miss? I would not have wanted to get caught eavesdropping, you see, so I left soon after the conversation ended. I am sometimes frightened by zem, for rightful reasons so."

His accent and slow way of speaking was killing me, but still, that was on the back of my mind now; as I nodded numbly, Duskleap glanced to his back nervously. "No one's here, guarding the gaurds," he said. "If you want to, this is probably the best time to run."

"Hm?" My mind was spinning again. "You want me to escape? I thought you were all loyal to my dad. The cause, too."

Duskleap sounded confused for a moment. "What cause? Oh, you mean, with the Dark Forest and all?" He exchanged glances with Larktoe cautiously. "We didn't really come here by choice, see... my parents were actually the ones who were with him- the boss, I mean, and Larktoe kind of had to- that wasn't his real name. Owl or something. Came here from the Sunset Lands, and I was from the Sunrise. Driven out by his faction-" **No, this is not Divergent. First synonym of "tribe" I could find that is not "clan."**

"Zat is enough for now- and Owl is not my real name either," Larktoe interrupted, suddenly sounding tired. 'For nown.' "I am sure that we may explain to ze boss later on." 'Later own.' "We could let the kit pass, certainly."

Duskleap still hesitated, but eventually he shook his head and looked down at me. "Maybe not now, missy?"

I was angry at him for a few moments before I noticed him flick his tail over to behind him. I still didn't get what he was hinting at until several heartbeats later, when Cliff-Fall entered through the den entrance and glared at me. "You can come out now. I need to talk to you."

Feeling dread leaking into my mind, I stood up on all fours and followed him out, single-file. Larktoe raised his tail up in a complicated zig-zag pattern that I decided was some sort of good-look sign just before I left. Duskleap just kept shaking his head. Yeah, I get it, the situation's bad, I thought.

Cliff-Fall stopped about a tail-length from me, where he hopped up onto a nearby tree trunk- something that he had probably done many times before, based on his agility in the task- and sat down, front paws out, tail sweeping around him. I was still gazing at the scenery of the camp before finally following him to where he was. It was all rocks, rocks and boulders and low-grown bushes for dens, probably, and several cats milling around. One she-cat looked particularly like Duskleap, and I realized that she could be his mom. Could.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the Great Branch," he yowled. I perked my ears up. That was an unusual first statement. Usually, Creekstar would say something like, 'Please, through darkness and light, let peace reign and Gather our clanmates together for a meeting,' but different clans, different traditions, I suppose. Still, what kind of clan was this?

My answer was soon to be answered. Most of the cats that were straying around the camp a few moments earlier had now stopped what they were doing and immediately padded over to the bottom of the tree branch, and still others that were in their dens came out from beneath the entrances and joined the rest of the group. Only two guards remained where most would enter from the outside world, but even they had turned their attention to where Cliff-Fall was clearly making an announcement.

"We have found out who has really been causing us all this trouble," he began, a slight growl in his tone. "The Dark Forest has returned to destroy all, and we must prepare! We have to stop this before anything gets out of hand." He turned to me. "But first, my daughter, Scream- eh, I mean, Glow. Will you join us in this fight?"

I was already being overwhelmed, and now I was asked to join a group that wants to possibly kill my mentor? "Um, no thanks," I said, hoping I sounded genuine. "It's a great honor, really, but I really need to go, like, right now and I don't have that much time to be with you any longer-" Rushing past the stream of cats, I got around about half the camp before some burly cat stopped me in my tracks.

Cliff-Fall frowned. "Glow, you must understand. We're just trying to do the best for-"

"For everyone," I finished gloomily, all while glaring up at the guard who had trapped me in. "You're not my real father, and I don't buy that for one red hot burning moment."

I could tell I hit a nerve, because he flinched- a rare occurrence, I thought dryly. Especially for someone that was supposed to be and act like a leader. "Glow," he said, more gravely this time. "I know your mother may have told you that in a moment of weakness, but you must not believe it. Even so, who do I have to do this for? StarClan has asked me specifically to do this task, and I will do it for the sake of the world, and world peace, for that matter."

Cliff-Fall did sound convincing, I had to admit, but something was still not right. What had Larktoe said about him? Why had I asked him about his love interests in the first place? I stopped fidgeting with the muscle-bound guard, and many thoughts at once hit home. "Your lost daughter. StarClan promised you something, didn't they? Either that, or she was lost to the dark and you want to find her while doing this 'task.'"

His face grew more shadowed by the moment. Many cats were now murmuring by themselves, but he silenced them all with a infuriated shriek. "GET HER!" he screeched.

* * *

 **This just got deep. Let me know what you think. :)**


	12. Blood and Strangers

**I'm just typing so fast. I know I should be emailing my science teacher questions about binder checks (which go on my grade) or reviewing for the mid-term math test, but... nah. This story is going to be the death of my school life.**

 **Question: How old do you think I am?**

* * *

Chapter 11

I panicked. When cats panic, they usually run, and that's exactly what I did. I could see Larktoe staring at me from the corner of my eye, face whitened, but when I turned my head around again, he was no more. Bodies seemed to be pressing in on me. I felt suffocated, and several were even trying to grab me, but I always slipped out of their tight grasp.

I couldn't see Cliff-Fall anymore, but I could tell that he was on his way down from the Meeting Branch or whatever it was called. I began pushing. When a clear path had formed for me to the camp entrance, I bolted and went for the sunshine. It had never felt so good before.

Except... it wasn't going to last long. There was a splash of color, of a mixture of orange, yellow, and a hint of pink; sunset. I could see trees up ahead, tall, spindly trees, probably conifers, but I couldn't care less at the moment. If they gave me shelter, then I wouldn't mind if it was oak or birch.

Shouts still rang out behind me. I paused for a moment, and turned around, hoping that no one was chasing me. The coast seemed to be clear. I couldn't count on that lasting for long, of course, so I reverted my attention to the span of forest again and continued running.

There was a tight feeling in my chest, mild at first but then increasing until I felt that my lungs must be on fire. Maybe the sun's last rays are making my fur catch flame, I thought drowsily. My eyes were squinted, but I could still pick out color and shape. There was a lake to the side of me, very far away, to the southeast, or maybe my brain was just failing me. Mirages. I had heard about them before, but I had never experienced one in life. Until now, perhaps.

When my chest felt as if it couldn't take the heat and pressure anymore, I skidded to a halt. My paws kicked up dust, and I found myself in a small clearing. Conifer trees to the front of me, sun to my left, lake to my right. Bushes surrounded this sandy glade, and wildflowers dotted the area around me. I blinked. Once, twice. Good mirage-clearing technique, I thought.

I looked out to the east. The lake was gone, or, at least, I couldn't see it anymore, but some part of it stuck in my mind, like someone glued it on with cobweb from the Storm-Calmer den. There was a cat reflected in the water, but I knew that was ridiculous. No one could see reflections in a lake so many mountain-lengths away.

Not even in mirages. If it was not a mirage, then what else?

* * *

It was really getting dark by the time I got myself out of the clearing and started looking for a way home. But there was the slight problem of not knowing where I was, after all, and maybe I should just suck it up and try to find a sleeping place for tonight. Maybe, but what was I going to do then? When the sun came up again?

I brushed away several vines dangling from the top of a tree limb that were swaying in the night breeze. Too much vegetation.

Perhaps I just needed a well-earned rest. Deciding that I couldn't be picky about my location- not now, anyway- I began clearing away a patch of rotten, wet maple leaves and started digging out a temporary shelter. I couldn't afford to be comfortable about it, either. I couldn't even see anything.

When I was finished, my paws were aching and soaked through with the mounds of dew on the leaves. The water seemed heavier, and smellier than normal, but that was to be expected. Either my scent glands weren't working right or that was just the way it was in this place. Instead of further investigation, I wrinkled up my nose.

Something about the smell seemed familiar, but I was exhausted. There was a light buzzing in my head, and I wanted to get in bed.

I kicked away a patch of clover. They, too, were wet. I turned myself around, my back facing the maple tree that my temporary den was built against, and laid down silently. I could hear crickets. They were chirping, and there were frogs croaking, and then birds calling to each other through the tree branches... so much could be heard when you closed your eyes and laid still.

I relaxed my muscles, every one of them. The heaviness of the day's burden seemed to lift off just a tiny bit; and maybe it was just my imagination, but the prey creatures no longer seemed to chirp and croak and call. Like they were afraid of something.

Lifting off and flying away... away from the monster, whose teeth are dripping with blood...

The next day, I found out that the lack of any sound was not just in my imagination. The monster draped in blood wasn't, either; and when the first rays of sunlight hit my body, it was red.

Dried, cracked, old, no longer free-flowing, but red. The leaves were red, too, and the back of the tree I was lying against and the blood-soaked ground. Not my blood. Someone else's.

* * *

I yelped. For a moment I thought that someone had came here and clawed me to bits during the night, but as I stared in horror at the amount of blood spilled on the ground, I knew that I wouldn't be alive right now if that had ever happened. Besides, I would have at least remembered it. This sounded like something you should remember.

Or maybe, many different cats died, not just one. I shuddered at the thought and began moving father away from my camping site. How had I slept through that the whole night? Calm down, I told myself. Calm down.

The blood didn't appear to be fresh- at least, not anymore. It must have turned from a rich crimson red to a deeper, darker brown. I sniffed at the murder site cautiously; a day old, at least. Thank StarClan for that, I thought.

StarClan, not SunClan. It was a new feeling.

I heard footsteps approaching me from behind and blankly thought about wandering, bloodthirsty badgers instead of, you know, hiding or running or screaming or something. Before I could decide on what to do, the other party apparently chose for me.

Several cats appeared out of the tangling undergrowth as I turned around. They were unlike anything I've ever seen before, with short, stubby tails and large, boulder-like shoulders. I gulped. "It- it wasn't me. I don't know your dead friend."

"Dead friend," one of them growled. She had a strange, low voice, with the same accent that I had heard Larktoe talk in. "Dead friend." She turned to face one of the two toms in the group, and he nodded as she began telling him a long string of information. I couldn't understand any of it, but it sounded complicated and sounded almost flowing. Like a river or a small stream, something unlike what I would have expected from these tough-looking cats. "Dead friend."

It only occurred to me then that those two words might have been the only two they understood in my whole sentence. Perhaps Larktoe was one of the rare few that could speak our language. "Dead friend," she snarled again, pacing with the rest of the group to surround me in a circle. Her tail flicked in my direction.

"You kill friend. You, dead."

* * *

 **Nope, nothing against French people, just the first accent I could think of on short notice, and the only one that I actually know how to write. XD**


	13. Secret Symbols and Home

**I predict the end of this story at around Chapter 20.**

 **Flower, you guessed way too high. :D**

* * *

Chapter 12

"No, not me! Not me!" I shrieked. My yelps just seemed to make the circle that was forming around me even tighter than it already was. Pacing around and around, some snarling, closing in on their enemy-

Something clicked in my mind and I raised my tail, twisting it this way and that like I had seen Larktoe do when I was heading out with Cliff-Fall for the meeting. **Go back to the chapter where he did that and you'll see.** I held it there, and kept my gaze on the eyes of the approaching cats. Just as they were beginning to completely surround me, the first she-cat in the group stopped, staring, paralyzed at the sight of my zigzagging tail, and yowled something that I couldn't comprehend.

Every cat around me stopped. The leading she-cat continued to glare at me, as if she couldn't decide whether or not I was being truthful, but dropped it as soon as a small, mottled tom stepped forward among the ranks.

His pelt was completely black, like most of the other cats, and he had scars crisscrossing his body, but his azure eyes still had a special life-filled gleam to it. "You do know our special greet," he started, painfully slow, like he had to think through every single word. Maybe he had. I nodded.

There were murmurs among the group, until finally the she-cat raised her head and everyone fell silent. "Come," she said, waving her tail slowly toward the patch of trees beyond. "Come. Interrogate."

They were going to interrogate me? I thought, starting to panic inside. Where were they taking me? But the tom soon took her place as speaker, and quickly added, "To ze camp. No thing to worry about. Just a few questions. No worries, honest with you."

I didn't want to go with them in the least bit. Spinning on my heels, I shook my head. "No."

Following the surprised glances of the onlookers, I turned around to an opening in the group and began running away as fast as I could. Some cats eventually called out something that I couldn't understand, but I just kept going on and on.

It was practically like a jungle in this part of the forest. Even though it was fairly cold, and there weren't as many prey creatures here as back in the territories, there were vines entangled literally everywhere and I could not take a step without nearly tripping over a root or pebble or something.

I don't know how long I kept running, but it must have been a long time. The only thing I knew was that when I finally felt like collapsing, I stumbled out of the thicket and came upon a moored clearing.

Beyond the place where I now stood, there was an endless stretch of peaty soil and dried roots sticking out of the ground. This place looked familiar, but I couldn't tell how just yet. Moving closer, though, I could begin to agree on one thing: I had seen this place before, somewhere.

But when?

Just as I was beginning the near the edge of what looked like yet another forest, I saw several forms walking along the horizon. I squinted, and it soon became clear that they were moving towards- me.

I was contemplating the choice of running, when suddenly I recognized something in their held-low faces and immediately relaxed. "Gazingfly? Silentfeather?" I called out, padding towards them at a fairly fast pace. "Rosestone?"

For a moment, none of them spoke. Then a white tom with light gray patterns on his pelt, who appeared to be leading the group, stepped out to me, and frowned. "Glowpaw? You are not supposed to be here."

"What do you mean, I'm not supposed to be here?" I questioned, getting increasingly worried. "You're with Cliff-Fall, aren't you? You thought that I would be getting lost out there in the woods instead of being here to ask you anything."

"Glowpaw," Gazingfly responded slowly, "I don't know who this Cliff-Fall character is, or what you are doing here, but I do know that the clan does not want your face around here any more than your mother does."

My heart skipped a beat. "What has she been saying about me?"

"She is saying that you had something to do with the disappearance of Creekstar," the bright ginger she-cat in the group answered. "He wasn't there after the battle with the rogues anymore. You were the second missing cat."

Blood pounded in my ears, harder and faster. "That's not true at all. Did it ever occur to you that she must have been just assuming. What has she been saying lately?"

"Well, you're about to find out real soon," Gazingfly replied gravely as he cut into the conversation. "We're taking you back to camp. Some may not be so happy to see you, and many are still injured from the battle and hardly recovering, so just in case..."

He signaled to the rest of the group with a flick of his tail. The two remaining cats quickly formed a circle around me, with Gazingfly at the front. I gulped. I was now technically a prisoner.

* * *

 **Sorry for the extremely short chapter... just wasn't feeling it.**

 **If you want to, you can now submit OCs to me from now until January 20, 2017. Here is the form:**

 **Name:**

 **Gender:**

 **Where Does He or She Reside?**

 **Rank (if living in LightClan):**

 **Looks:**

 **Personality (two sentences at least, please):**

 **Friends, Family, Relationships (if any):**

 **Backstory (just a little would do):**

 **Other:**


	14. Confrontations and Patrols

**I have added the OCs to the beginning allegiances... check that part if you aren't sure if yours is on there. It might take a while to update.**

* * *

Chapter 13

When I saw the dark outline of the camp rising from above the moor, I wasn't sure what I felt. I was going to have to face my mom now, after all. I didn't want to see her, not now, preferably not any time.

Gazingfly and Rosestone were determined to drive me forward, though. Even the usually quiet Silentfeather, who was deaf and could not understand much of our conversations, had gotten the basic meaning of what he was supposed to do at this rate. Sometimes I felt sorry for him; he was originally called Streamkit, but was renamed as a result of his condition.

I could now see various cats scurrying around in the camp inside. The light pattern of Whispersong blended in among all the other pelt colors, although instead of joining the group at the back, she was staring out meaningfully at the entrance- at me, I thought suddenly. For me.

The moment we ducked under the bramble tendrils that wove a tight curve around the top of the entryway, she stood up in a shy manner and glanced to where Sparrowchirp was arguing with a glossy ginger tom at the Meeting Rock.

"My mate," she said, sounding slightly embarrassed. "Over there. With your mother."

I nodded, even though the patrol that surrounded me was already moving on. Sparrowchirp's prominent tortoiseshell fur stood out from the rest, and her eyes flashed true anger. Her head turned in my direction, and she growled. "The guilty party has come home, I see."

I felt the urge to claw her in the face right there and then, but there was my dignity and position to think about. Plus, that would just make everyone think I was a murderer even more than they already did. "False, false," I replied, while also attempting to shoo the rest of the patrol away.

Her yellow eyes flashed golden. "I never knew my own daughter could be guilty of such crimes as abducting our great leader. What do you have to defend yourself with? Don't you dare intercept, Shiningfur."

Whispersong's mate, who was apparently the Shiningfur that she was talking about, sealed his mouth in a tight line while angrily shooting claws at Sparrowchirp's face with his gleaming eyes. "Who do you think did it, then?" he hissed to me. "Think."

I already had an idea of who might have done it, but I still hesitated. Family was still family, and moms would always be moms, however they acted, but the thought of being exiled- or worse- settled the argument inside my mind once and for all.

"I accuse you, Sparrowchirp," I began slowly, "of kidnapping our noble Creekstar and then blaming it all on a mere apprentice. Who knows what you might have done with him?" Suddenly, I got an idea. "What about your lost daughter? Did you take her too?"

Her face was snow white. "Bu- but- I didn't know where Fuzzkit went, either! She really just disappeared!"

"I don't believe you at all," I said, now completely confident and sure of myself. "If your absurd story is true, then didn't you look for her at all? It would be sensible to just seal the whole case up, huh?"

By now, half the clan was very much confused and arguing among themselves. Sparrowchirp waved her tail for silence, but she got completely the opposite. "She killed a newborn kit?" "Who are they even talking about?" "Exile both of them!"

"SILENCE!" she screeched, but the noise level had gotten out of control. Choosing to turn her attention back to me, she glared at me with eyes like those of a tawny owl on the hunt. "I searched everywhere, through the whole night," she spat. "The moor where we hunted, the very edges of the forest, the borders of our territory, EVERYWHERE!"

"Yes, but you would not have looked in the small gorge on the other side of the moor," I retorted. "Seems suspicious to me."

Upon hearing my words, her face whitened immediately. "But... she could not have fallen. I would have seen it. There is nothing on the surface of the bottom of the gorge. Nothing. Besides, you cannot blame me for trying."

"We'll hold both of you here for the time being," Shiningfur interrupted. "We'll send a patrol out to get to the bottom and search for any possible bodies that may have fallen. The gorge is not far from the camp." He still looked skeptical, and I agreed entirely. This just seemed sketchy to me.

Even so, Sparrowchirp nodded grimly, still glaring partially at me. "Fine. Then it will be so. She has dark gray fur all the way. Same color eyes. Short legs and small paws."

"Separate dens, please," Shiningfur called out yet again. "They'll tear each other apart, and that won't be good." He glanced back to where his mate was looking at him expectantly. "Whispersong, Goldenquail, and Blossomstreak. You three will go."

Surprised faces perked up.

"Yeah, sure," Blossomstreak commented, still halfway through grooming her spotless light brown pelt. "No kit will remain at the bottom of the gorge. Dead or alive. In this case, probably dead."

Sparrowchirp glared at her. "Shut up. You never liked kits or understood the value of them, and you never will, either."

She only understands the value of her own kits, I thought angrily. Not any others. Not me, not even perfect Flutterpaw. The kit's body won't be there at the gorge, either. It would have to be left to me to solve this.

* * *

Goldenquail stared down at the bottom of the gorge, a dizzying height below him. "That looks high," he muttered.

Blossomstreak picked a particularly annoying bur out of her pelt. "Tell you what, me and Whispersong will go down there, and you stay here with the sunshine and butterflies and whatever else you need. OK? You'll probably die down there trying to climb the walls anyway, and we don't want the burden of having to carry two dead bodies instead of one. Got that?"

"OK," Goldenquail mumbled unhappily. He was always being left out of everything. It was especially annoying.

Blossomstreak didn't care, and she had never cared, anyway. "There's a trail over there where we can hop from one boulder to another," she said, blowing long fur out of her eyes. "Be careful. You still might die. We need you to help carry the kit on the way back. Goldenquail- well, he can carry me."

Whispersong was beginning to like Blossomstreak less and less by the heartbeat. "How about you just go down there alone?" she challenged, indignation flashing in her eyes. "Since you're so eager."

She grinned. "See, that's logic. Right on, Whispery."

Whispersong had not expected her to agree, so now she and Goldenquail were the ones left standing on the edge of a cliff and watching the feisty she-cat as she progressed her way down onto the bottom. Hop, stay close to the walls, regain your balance, hop again. When she got ready to jump right off the last boulder, she noticed something very peculiar.

Dark gray among lush green. She padded closer, her paws nearly sliding on the slick rock. Fur among leaves.

She pushed aside the lowest branch of a neighboring bush. Fur among leaves. Kit among bush.


	15. Coming Back and Secrets

**School day today! For all the people that are confused about this story out there, go draw a plot diagram. XD**

* * *

Chapter 14

The thing I saw as the patrol was coming back was basically nothing. I did hear a lot of commotion near the entrance of the camp, though, and soon I found myself shouting at the bored-looking guard in front of the Youngling's Sanctuary that I was trapped in.

"Let me go see what's going on!" I yelled at the tortoiseshell she-cat that blocked my way.

Her bright, gleaming amber eyes refused to meet mine, instead choosing to stare down onto the floor. "I'm not allowed to," Plumsnout sighed in exasperation for what had to be the hundredth time. "I'll get in trouble, too."

She has a pretty-sounding sigh that would usually leave the toms swooning for her, but today, it sounded tired. I was tired, too. Exhausted, in fact, but she wasn't exactly known for her sturdy build, so once an angry push was sent her way, she went reeling and toppled down.

"Hold on!" Plumsnout yowled, but I was already on my way out. I could see some of the Golden Rays there. One especially annoyed-looking light brown tom was carrying something on his shoulders, and as I approached, I realized that it wasn't as much a question of what but who.

"My kit! FUZZ!" Sparrowchirp screeched, running across the clearing like she had never ran before. Ferndrift, the tom who was supposed to be holding her back, just shrugged at me when I looked at him questionably. Whatever, just let her have her moment, I thought, turning my attention back to the gray ball of fur.

Wait... maybe it really was just a ball of fur.

I frowned as Goldenquail dropped the whole bundle in exhasperation and padded away, mumbling something about butterflies. Sparrowchirp also stopped running, and she gasped at the few strands of dark fur left on the ground.

"That's all? No body?" she exclaimed. The dark tortoiseshell that was standing by her, nodded, and it took a while for my mind to recognize her as Blossomstreak. She nodded.

"The poor thing-" she emphasized the word 'poor' for effect- "probably fell down the gorge one unfortunate night and died, leaving the rest of its body for predators in the passing moons."

Sparrowchirp sniffed the dark gray fur. "That's... what she smelled like, I know it."

"Really? I can't smell anything now," Blossomstreak commented. "But anyway... perhaps you'd like to tell us how this kit came to be in the first place?" She smirked at her.

My mom stiffened. She bristled the whole way along her spine. "N- no, I can't. It's private. The only thing I know is that I tried my best to find her. I don't know why she left, either."

Blossomstreak laughed. The whole clan was silent by this point. "Does anyone believe her?"

Nothing. The sound of a drop of dew trickling off of an oak leaf could be heard halfway across the LightClan territory. I began feeling fidgety. The patrol finding anything at all had broken my confidence, and now, I began to regret everything.

But I kept silent. No cat moved. I was a vengeful coward.

* * *

The little she-cat was chilled to the bone. She hadn't opened her eyes yet, and all was darkness. But the wind was carrying her along. She could hear the melodic tune of the night sky, and she couldn't keep still.

She didn't know what she was doing, or why she chose to start walking. She could barely stand up. But the breeze was almost lifting her up, and it was just natural.

Mama and Papa were behind her now. She never paused to think about why their fur was not blowing in the wind, or why they seemed totally asleep and undisdisturbed. The she-kit just kept going. She didn't know where, or why, but she somehow knew that she had to.

It was a long time later, but eventually _something_ snagged on her pelt and a few strands of her dark gray fur fell loose. She wanted to yelp with the pain, but she found that she couldn't even open her mouth. On and on she went, once again.

Traveling. Leaving behind the memories of a clan she never really knew.

Eventually, she couldn't hear anything, either. She was getting tired, but the wind still persevered to push her onwards. Rustling leaves. Trickling water. Smooth sandstone. She just kept walking and half-floating and being carried.

Until the moment when she felt that she couldn't stand it anymore. Her breathing was rapid, and her delicate paws were cracked and almost bleeding. Keep going, a voice told her. You need to. But she was tired, and somehow, the voice sounded tired, too.

Everyone was tired on this moonless, starless night. Just her, the wind, and the song of the whispering shadows.

The little she-cat collapsed. The wind tried to push her at first. Come on, get going! It sounded impatient. But she had refused to move any more, and no breeze was going to change that.

Eventually, she felt sunlight touch her back. The wind was completely gone, and so had any memories of it or her previous family. Soft paws ruffling through her fur. Playful laughing. Scolding. Softness, warmness, a little bit of light.

The light was getting stronger before it faded away into black. Somewhere else, almost five territories away, a scream rang out through the air, the scream of a frightened mother. Somewhere else, everywhere around the world, there was death. Somewhere else, a starry cat was watching her.

Somewhere else, there were the scattered remains of the four clans who used to live around the Great Lake. The Shadow had left long ago, creating an isolated society and leaving behind their old ways for the Light. The River had then ran away, like the bubbling stream that was now so dried up and so dead, to somewhere only the Stars will know.

But the Thunder and the Wind remained. Evolving into a culture gone mad. The she-kit was not far away.

* * *

 **I probably failed at attempting to create emotional darkness in this story. XD**

 **Yup, we will be making books for each of these other clans.**


	16. Exile and Death

**:o This story is getting deeper... and more complicated. Which would be the death of many people.**

* * *

Chapter 15

"See, Sparrowchirp?" Blossomstreak twirled her tail around, looking quite pleased with herself. "No one believes your pitiful lies. Which leads me to believe... the former Golden Ray and mother will now be exiled."

My mom looked utterly defeated. Her tail was drooping, and she didn't look as if she had the strength to even glare at me. "Yes," she finally responded. "Yes. But that doesn't solve anything about Creekstar's disappearance, does it?"

"Hold on, hold on," I interrupted, feeling like I should have said something. "I have something to say that might explain quite a few things. Where is my mentor? Leaf?"

When no one answered, I growled deep in my throat. Of course he wasn't here. Probably off running away from me right now. "He is a Dark Forest cat who has found his way back to the living," I continued, trying to chase away the thick awkwardness in the air around us. "For purposes unknown."

Silence. It was Blossomstreak, surprisingly, who finally decided to speak up. "Uh, what's the Dark Forest?"

"The Dark Side of the Moon, I mean," I coughed, my mind spinning with all that I wanted to say. "They're the same thing. Oh, and, uh, SunClan isn't really real. StarClan is the real thing. Sorry. Really, I am. But that's the truth. I don't know if you're going to believe me or not, but-"

Several strands of my light gray fur fell like ash all around me, and I was so surprised that I hardly winced in the pain. "Brightpool?" I asked, eyes wide. "What are you doing?"

She looked mad. Like, mad mad. Her snow-white pelt fluffed out at all angles, and her normally bright amber eyes grew dark. Her claws were unsheathed, with a few spots of my fur stuck in between. "You were wrong to mess with our ancestors' will," she snarled.

I backed off. I had never seen her like this before, ever.

But before I could even start arguing, a dark gray shape flew over me and landed in front of the angry Storm-Calmer. Maybe she needs to calm her own storms first, I thought quickly. "Stop! What's going on?" Flutterpaw demanded.

It sounded strange for her to suddenly be all commando. Brightpool stood up slowly, hackles raised. The crowd around us was beginning to form a circle, chanting, "Fight! Fight! Fight!" So much for a peace-wanting clan. "You are my own student," she growled. "I never in my whole life thought you would betray me."

"You've only been my teacher for a few days," Flutterpaw replied cleverly. Huh. Maybe she was smarter than she looked, I reflected. "But my sister is more important to me."

Finally, someone says something that matters. "She's right," I said, because honestly, what else could I say? I certainly mattered to myself... probably. "She is old enough to make her own decisions. You can't go on teaching her false lies."

"I've got that one job! To keep LightClan, our traditions going!" Brightpool growled. By now, the crowd was at a frenzy. "If I said anything else, Creekstar would banish me, and for good reason. If even one person starts to question anything, the whole society crumbles!"

Now, I suddenly realized why Storm-Calmers had such strict rules. They were the ones responsible for feeding the rest of the clan lies and half-truths about SunClan and their ancestors and reassuring them that _we've_ got it all right and everyone else was all wrong.

Flutterpaw sucked in a deep breath. "The secret's out, fox-heart." Her breathing was coming raggedly and in pieces, hard and forced. "I'm going to tell everyone about it, and then no one will fall for your propaganda anymore. We'll be all out searching for new lives, away from all this mess, and then-" she paused. "Then."

She began pacing around and around, never taking her eyes off of Brightpool's. It suddenly grew quiet in the small, enclosed camp.

Suddenly, yowling as loud as she could, Flutterpaw rose up onto her hind legs and swatted at her mentor's muzzle with much spirit, but it was almost childish, like a kit play-fighting against a parent. Brightpool hissed as a small cut opened up on her face, but turned around quickly to kick my sister in the chest- hard.

Flutterpaw screeched. Instead of running forward to help or do anything useful, I stood there, as if in a trance, as she landed on her back on the rough sand and growled, "You'll pay for this! Come over here!"

Brightpool stepped forward. Now the whole crowd was silent, almost horrified. "You asked for it," she said as she shrugged, and stepped on her apprentice's hind paws. Flutterpaw hissed and swatted at her, but her swipes would not connect however many times she tried.

It was then that I realized: something big was about to happen. Finally breaking out of my trance, I rushed forward in a hurry to shield her or help her or even distract Brightpool or something, but on the first step that I took, claws rained down and all chaos broke loose.

Full down in the middle of her belly.

There was a single, large gash where the blood began leaking out. I didn't know how I still wasn't screaming by then, but I rammed Brightpool over to the side- so much for her victory- and ran over to my sister. "Flutterpaw."

I avoided the fact that I was standing in a small puddle of her blood. Her eyes were glazed, and as I pressed my ear to her chest, I could hear the faint heartbeats. They were already stumbling. Fluttering. "What in your code allows you to maul innocents?" I asked coldly.

Brightpool avoided the question. "Banish all three of them," she said, her head turned the other way. "They are dangerous rebels."

I could have argued with her. 'What, you just nearly killed your pupil- who is about to die real soon- and then you kick her out?' But the fight in me was gone. I felt like sagging into the ground, and then joining my sister, wherever she was going. "I'll never come back here again, that's for sure," I said, sounding tired.

Everyone was watching me as I began dragging Flutterpaw out the camp entrance by the scruff. I was trying to handle her softly and gently, but she kept whimpering and I constantly had to stop to let her recover.

Eventually, Sparrowchirp came around to where I was struggling. She watched for a while, thoughtfully and in silence, and I thought about clawing her face for a moment before she stepped forward and began helping me push my sister across the ground.

Her eyes weren't meeting mine. When Flutterpaw was all the way out of the camp, she turned to the right, where the mountains were, and took off. I wanted to watch her run, run until she was only a speck in the distance.

But Flutterpaw's heartbeat could hardly be heard now. I dragged her over to a section of soft earth where she could lie down, before checking the rise and fall of her chest. Her blood was starting to clot, but some was still fresh. Nope. Still alive.

She closed her eyes.

I wanted to stay with her, even though I had no idea what to do, but I could tell that she was beyond helping now. I wanted to scream, run around in circles and shred my fur, but I was always a calm cat and I never lost it.

There was one thing left for me to do, though.

Taking one last glance at Flutterpaw, who was completely silent now, I began heading in the opposite direction from my mother. Leaf and Creekstar better had some explaining to do. **For the sake of Glowpaw and the audience**

* * *

Many horizons away, the Storm-Calmer was sobbing. She paused. Stared at the walls. "Mama... are you proud of me?"


	17. Return and Strange Monsters

**By this point, everyone is either scared away, bored to tears, confused to tears, or wondering what those other people were going on about.**

 **I'm not confused. Maybe you should do a close-read. XD**

* * *

Chapter 16

The sun was shining bright overhead. Late afternoon. Perfect weather for LightClan, but for me, I felt like the sun was underestimating my emotion. Go away, I thought. I want the moon to come out so I can be in the dark, in peace.

I wasn't even sure where I was going. What, did I seriously think that Leaf and Creekstar would just be hanging around here, waiting for me? But there was no cat to ask for directions to, and not one that would know anything anyway.

Or maybe they weren't supposed to tell it to me.

I felt like I was missing something, just wandering around in broad daylight here, so I decided to go back to the rogue camp where Larktoe used to live. Maybe they had seen them somewhere around here?

Still, it was dangerous. They let me make a quick getaway the last time, but what were they going to think of me when I returned? 'Hi! I'm back! Do you miss me? You almost tore me to pieces, but that's a first encounter for you.'

I began seeing sights that I've came across when I first fled from them. I didn't really pay attention to the surroundings all that much, but when I slowed down, some of the features became prominent in my mind. There was the fallen, twisted oak tree branch, a sharp boulder like one of Brightpool's claws, and... a tree.

I didn't know what was so special about this single gnarled maple tree that made me slow down and look, but it wasn't really something that I saw. Instead, my nose picked up a sharp tint. Fresh...

But that was impossible! It couldn't be the tree that I slept against that night, couldn't it? The blood was stale even then. So why would it appear even fresher than before... I suddenly turned up my nose in disgust. Of course. It was obvious to me now: someone else had died here.

Flutterpaw. My heart was twisting, while hers probably stopped long ago. But if she was still alive... then I ought to go back and get her. But she couldn't have survived for long. I felt strange, feeling so sure that she was dead. But the blood of strangers didn't feel much different. They had someone who loved them, and then they were just... gone. I wondered where the body went. Probably buried in a hole somewhere.

I knew that I had to keep going, so I swallowed up my tears and pushed all emotion to the back of my mind. If the 'patrol' that I had seen this morning- it didn't feel like today, it felt like a million moons behind me- were walking among here so casually, then they must live here or something. If they lived here, then that meant...

It meant that I had to go find the rest of them.

Sure enough, a few minutes of me tromping through bushes and thick undergrowth, I spotted movement at the edge of my vision and waited. My heart pounding in my ears, I began to rehearse my speech. 'Uh, so, I saw some of you this morning, but I ran off. Long story short, I came back here, and I need ask you some questions, maybe even go to the place where you live- again, not in a creepy way- because I need to find out about certain things...'

No cat came out from between the trees and started confronting me. Feeling that something was off, I began picking my way carefully through the ferns and roots of the thickly wooded forest. Perhaps they were just watching me, waiting for me to come near them?

But why was it all so silent?

Maybe I should go yell out something, let them know that I'm here, I thought. Even if they didn't understand much of what I was saying, if any. "Hey!" I shouted. "I'm here! I kind of need your help here?"

Suddenly feeling silly, talking to what could have been thin air, I decided to make the benefit of the doubt. They wouldn't have gotten what I said, anyway. "Hiya!" I tried again. "Snowbanks! Trees! Flowering roses! Petals! Leaves!" I took a deep breath. "HELLO?"

Something- or someone- snagged the end of my tail desperately, and I screamed. There came a crunching of leaves, and then I was being dragged backwards- with my tail, and it hurt terribly. "Stop, let me go!" I tried to say, but two paws collaborated as if on cue to hold over my mouth and muff up whatever I was trying to say.

I was angry and kicked madly for the first few moments, but a wild look of desperation from two round eyes silenced me into stillness. Slowly, I began to get the grip of the situation.

I didn't know what was happening at first, but a growl and a loud sniff cleared up the current events for me. Why else would they have silenced me?

Suddenly, I felt extremely stupid- and guilty. How in all of StarClan did I not notice a giant beast wandering around? and to have shouted so loudly... it must have heard us by now.

The small dirt-pile we had hidden behind was also sheltering two other cats, none of which I recognized from the ones this morning. One was silent, eyes closed, as if praying to someone, and the other was fidgeting around and kept sheathing and unsheathing his claws. What, did he seriously think he could take on a monster?

I was trying to tell him through my mind that trying to defeat such a large animal was not going to work. Sadly, it doesn't work.

But after a few more heratbeats of waiting, there came silence. What was happening? Slowly, I curved my head around the body of a large boulder and- deep, quiet breath- peeked out at the surroundings. There was nothing. Where could it have gone?

Flashes of tawny and orange and midnight-black stripes. Silently cursing myself, I dared to look back. "I think it's going away."

Even though they probably couldn't have understood the exact words, the basic meaning was clear. The only she-cat in the group nodded to the rest, but only she rose to join me. "Ran?" she asked.

"Ran," I replied. "Probably decided it had better things to do than bother us."

She frowned, her whiskers twitching in the effort. "No no, ran," she tried again. "Run."

Roars. Earth-splitting roars.


	18. Shootings and Dusk

**Sorry for a bit tad slower updates now! But three days is going to be the longest waiting time you'll ever get, I guarantee you that.**

* * *

Chapter 17

My first reaction was to scream. But somehow, I held back. Maybe I knew that it was going to make things even worse than we started out with. But all the same, we remained frozen in our places and half-trembling and some of us whimpering as dark shadows flickered across the ground in front of us; a warning sign.

The first thing I saw were the large, tawny paws. They were much bigger than a normal cat's, but still looked different from, say, a fox. These paws were distinguishable as those of a feline's. Then I made my way up the body, to where large, black stripes cut through the orange, and I wanted to run away so bad, but it was like I couldn't move.

I thought that maybe those kinds of creature were native to the rogues' territory or something, but one glance at their perplexed faces and I got the feeling that they haven't seen those things, ever, in their lifetime before. Which was scary. I liked to have a guide with me.

It was certainly larger than all of us, but something told me that it wasn't full grown yet. Good, I thought. Maybe we did have a chance of running away after all...

I felt fur brush past my pelt, and before I knew it, the little she-cat was bolting away behind me. The cat-ish-monster growled. Perhaps it wasn't interested in us. But I could see the hungry gleam in its eyes, and I felt as if I shouldn't run. Wait for its next move.

It seemed to be waiting on me, too.

The clearing was silent. Everyone else had already run away. I probably should have as well. Just when I thought my nerves couldn't take it any longer, it turned away and headed towards the next patch of forest.

I took a sigh of relief. Backed away slowly, as if it was still out there, watching me, even though it was probably long gone by now. I could hear shouts up ahead, probably more of the rogues and maybe even their camp. But just before I cleared the undergrowth and emerged into safety, I heard something loud.

First, the noise. Ear-splitting and crystal clear, yes, but it was over in a heartbeat. Just a heartbeat; and then the wail, the shriek. It happened one more time, and on the second round, there was nothing but silence.

* * *

Madeline stomped her way down the stairs, clutching the newspaper tightly in her balled hands. "Did you hear what happened?" she demanded. Her dark red hair, which was once frizzy and shot up like fire, now lay down on her shoulders in a depressed mood, clumped together. Or, it might have been the shower that she just took.

Her father was stooped on the couch. "Hm? Oh, was it about that guy who shot your beast? Yeah, well, it was in his right to protect his residential area."

She suddenly realized that there was no use in trying to talk to him. He'd been that way to her for as long as she could remember. "Whatever," she muttered, making her way upstairs again and entering her bedroom entrance, slamming the door behind her.

"Watch that attitude!" was all that she heard before she slumped down on her bed.

She didn't even cry this time. It was like all the tears she ever had were now soaked in the Kleenex tissues that littered her room.

Sitting on her work desk- which was painted pink- was her favorite pet cat, Fluff, who was busy staring out the window. Madeline stood up. Her fingers began combing the soft fur on her back.

Dusk, her name for the tiger, had only been there for a while, but she knew that he used to be wild. She didn't know the full story, but every week, on Saturdays, she would get on her bike and head down to the roadside zoo near her house and go meet him.

Sure, Dusk was reported as 'uncontrollable' among many other things, but for her, he was the light of her life- beside her cat and her two hamsters, Orange and Iris. Madeline knew that he wanted to get back to the wild badly, and that he felt trapped in the tight space the zoo provided, but she didn't know how she could help.

...and then, today happened. She wasn't there when it happened, but apparently Dusk had tried to escape for what had to be the millionth time- and actually succeeded. Not many people chose to go to his exhibit, anyway, so he actually got quite far. But that idiotic murderer with a small bullet for a brain...

She stopped grooming her cat's pelt and instead ripped out a single hair of her black fur. Fluff yowled in protest. _Her missing mother._ She ripped out another strand. Her cat tried to squirm away, and finally leaped out of Madeline's arms. _Stress at school._

She grabbed hold of the first object she could find- which happened to be a plastic jar containing all her pencils and erasers- and swung it toward her window at full force. It didn't break, but as soon as she caught her breath, she put back down the jar. _Uncaring dads. Lying friends, and now this._

"What's happening up there?" the call came from downstairs. Madeline did not answer. She heaved open the windowpane with her remaining free hand- she needed some fresh air- and Fluff pounced up onto the windowsill.

She sniffed the outside air for a moment, then hurled herself out the window.

Madeline screamed, but instead of freefalling, her cat landed on the top of the roof of the first level. She was thinking. She was Mistflame. She would make her way back to RiverClan someday, sooner or later.

* * *

 **Before you say anything: Madeline is NOT a self-insert. My name is not Madeline or any form of the name Madeline, I do not have any pets (except for these fish I had when I was young; they died from eating too much), I do not have anger issues (most of the time), both my parents are alive, and yeah.**


	19. Questions and Dreams

**I hope the last chapter was a decent break from all this Warrior-ness. But I suppose that's what you came for... the warriorness...**

* * *

Chapter 18

I dragged myself over the last of the smooth, slick stones, but still unable to wipe the memory of the loud noise away from my mind. "How long has the beast been terrorizing you?" I asked softly.

Now, it was being terrorized.

The she-cat didn't answer for a moment, instead choosing to lower herself to where several boulders made a small kind of cave. She leaned in, and it was then that I saw a black tom sitting on the ground below.

"Repeat that again?" he asked, shifting his gaze to where I was. I quickly said what I had said before, and he began nodding slowly. "I see, ah, well, ze tiger did not come until the day before yesterday."

He paused before continuing. "We have been ordered to attack it on sight... but some of us do not understand its power and how it might have even ignored us if we hadn't interfered. It has a growing hate of us."

"Yeah," I said, "and now, it's dead. I think the Twolegs had something to do with it."

The tom gazed at me with wise amber eyes. "My name, is Cawing Heron. Herons do not caw, really, but alas, you cannot change your name. Names are like fates."

"Oh," I said, the old-cat-wisdom level getting to me. "My name is Glowpaw. Not Glow Paw. Glowpaw."

"I see," Cawing Heron responded, sounding as if he didn't really understand the difference. "In zat case, our chief should be coming along very soon. Just call him Duck's Leap. It gets on his nerves when he is referred to as 'chief.'"

 **Stereotypical Native American-like tribal cats who have French accents? It couldn't get better XD**

 **Just kidding, it was the first accent I thought of and the only one I could do without being downright offensive.**

I was about to say 'oh' again- that was how interesting his lecture was- when I was interrupted by the sound of rustling reeds beside us. The she-cat and I turned around, and the great chief of the tribe appeared in all his glory with several guards escorting him along.

I wasn't quite sure what I was expecting.

Tribal cat leaders, in my opinion, were old mottled toms with many scars from past battles, a grouchy elder attitude, and a tongue for wisdom. This cat that stood before me fit none of those basic standards- well, maybe except for the scar part.

He was short, and for a few moments I thought that was just the way he grew until his large, curious blue eyes met mine. This tom didn't look as if he was a day past six moons old. Honestly, he should be in the Youngling's Sanctuary instead of being out as a tribal chief.

When he spoke, however, there was only graveness and seriousness in his tone. "Glowpaw?" he asked. "Our visitor?"

I nodded. Cawing Heron leaned in closer to me and whispered, "I've been giving him lessons, teaching him ze language of the Clans. He has improved a lot since ze last time I seen him. Saw him. Obviously, he has been practicing."

"Yes, I'm Glowpaw here," I said, eager to get to the point. I decided to avoid asking why a Sparrow Wing-sized tom would be hanging in the position of leader- for now. "I have something important to ask you."

He looked interested. I pushed on before he could ask _me_ about what I was doing here, in his camp, doing who-knows-what. "Have you seen a light blue-gray tom anywhere around here? Steely gray eyes. Or a brown, mottled tom. Lots of scars on his pelt."

"No," Duck's Leap said, but I could tell from the way his eyes wandered around nervously that he was holding back something.

I attempted to try again. "Well, in that case, I better start looking on my own. I'll rip him to shreds when I see them, and that's for certain. Need to teach those two a lesson. Bye! See you!"

I waited for a moment, expecting Duck's Leap to start confessing, but he just shrugged. Was it me, or did he have relief-scent all around his body? "Sure," he said, and he sighed. Happily. What was going on here?

"Let me guess. You don't like them much either," I tried.

Duck's Leap shrugged yet again. "I am worried about them, to be truthful. They seem to look like zose RiverTribe scums or whatever they are called. RiverClan. Whatever. They probably ran off with them in the end, anyway."

RiverClan. Can't say I've ever heard of that name. "That's fine," I started. Slowly. "You say they went to this RiverClan? What have they said to you? Did they talk to you at all?"

"Yes, in fact, zey did, and zey said quite a lot," he answered with glee. "Zey said something like zis: 'Have you heard of DarkClan?' No, I answered. But zey were anxious to get as much information out of me as possible, see."

Duck's Leap continued, his eyes gleaming and my curiosity peeking out from around the corners. "Zey said, 'T'at's good, because we do not want to be seen around them.' Here, I began to get worried. But they still had more to say. 'Zey want my Clan in ashes,' that was the tall, gray one. 'It has to stay.'"

"What did he do then?" I asked, getting increasingly suspicious.

His face grew dark. "I tried to tell him to go away, but he clawed my face and just ran off. Strange. Maybe you should go think about what to do next."

I knew I should. Now that I was a bit calmer and somewhat more reasonable, I needed to go take a rest. Somewhere away from all this craziness and maybe actually get some good sleep for once. I hadn't had that in a long time.

* * *

Sometimes you know when you're in a dream, and you get that nagging feeling in your head. I didn't have any feelings like that now. Maybe it was a special dream, but I wouldn't know until much later. For then, it was just another normal dream.

Except that I was in a chase.

I wasn't the being chased, however. I was the predator. I could feel the blood roaring in my ears like waves crashing against the rock shores, and the powerful feeling in my claws, strong and skilled. My prey was somewhere up ahead. It had a light gray pelt with ginger stripes, and every time it turned around, I saw its green eyes among its terrified face.

The prey looked very much like someone I had met before, I mused, before clearing away my thoughts with a shake of my head. That was silly. Thoughts like these would only slow me down in the hunt...

Who was I hunting?

I saw something up ahead, or rather- I felt it. I felt it coming, like you know something bad's gonna happen when it's about to occur, except that that _something_ was right there, plain to see, and looming ahead. Still, I didn't stop.

The prey was also heading there. I had to follow. I was chasing myself... Myself.

It was too late. The cliff was already nearing, and as I tried to stop, it was suddenly under me...

I was smiling, and so was the prey. We were smiling as one...

Sick feelings of falling. Happiness. Falling. Joy. Falling. Smiling. Falling.

Home. The shadows were my home.

* * *

 **Somehow, the darkness did not come out right. Maybe I should bake it for five minutes longer.**


	20. Wakefulness and Escape

**It's been a long, three days, guys. I created a new forum called StormClan, LightningClan, BreezeClan, and StreamClan RP... after deleting my old one. Sorry to past members of Stormclan. Go search up "Respects to Stormclan" in the forums section. You will find a forum purely dedicated to its memory.**

 **But, enough advertising. Let's get on with the story already.**

* * *

Chapter 19

Falling from a cliff. Cliff fall. Cliff-Fall.

I woke up from my dream, not in a cold sweat or even in a full-on panic mode, but instead a slow, gradual, realization that I was _not_ hurtling off a cliff, _not_ hunting down my mirror image, and definitely not about to die. Or maybe I was dead already. Hello, is this StarClan? I wanted to ask, even though that was silly.

I was not in StarClan. So I was still alive. But honestly, where was I?

Looking around, I could gradually begin to see my surroundings: a small and compact but comfortable enough den, complete with three unused and dry-looking nests in the corners. One of which I was using.

My right foreleg was notoriously itching, so I shoved away the long, roughly threaded twigs and dead ferns that made up my sleeping area. The itch still wouldn't go away, but I figured that that couldn't last forever- could it? Now that I thought about, I could begin to remember what had happened last night.

Feeling tired, I had asked Duck's Leap- I still couldn't believe that he was the chief of this tribe- and asked him for a place to stay for the night. It still wasn't even evening yet, but I was exhausted, after all, so what could you do?

He looked at me suspiciously, but it was his camp, after all, so who could really blame him? However, I guess I didn't really look all that threatening, so he eventually agreed.

Duck's Leap then led me quickly to a small hollow in the center of a long-dead tree, and explained that this was his father's - the past chief's- past den, except that he ordered to be in a different den because he didn't want to be reminded of his deceased family. That made sense, I thought, fog clouding my mind. Thoughts about tall cliffs...

I couldn't dwell on that thought for long, however, because the moment I sank into my warm (if slightly untidy) nest, it was shut-eye time and everything went dark.

But now that I was awake, I began to notice something peculiar. Everywhere, there was shadowed, and I had to squint to look out beyond the den entrance. It was nighttime, so why did I suddenly wake up here? Sure, there was the nightmare, but...

Of course! The nightmare! I sighed a breath of relief. My sore leg was hurting more than ever. Was there something wrong with it? I began to wonder. The itch definitely wasn't there the last time I checked...

Half-limping, half-walking, I began making my way back out the den entrance. I wasn't feeling so sleepy anymore. Eyeing the spread-out camp in front of me, something weighed down on me.

What was I going to do now? But even as I pondered over my impossible question, I already had a single, pressing answer in my mind: taking revenge. Not on this tribe- what had they ever done to me, anyway, except give me shelter for the night- and not on Cliff-Fall's clan. The one that they call "DarkClan."

No. LightClan. Flutterpaw, too. Remembering how she had suffered so tremendously and painfully the day before wiped the last traces of sleepiness from my brain. Dead, gone, flying to StarClan, all of them.

Because of LightClan and its twisted ways. Brightpool. There was blood pounding in my ears now, a low humming in my mind, a rhythmic, ancient, sound like that of a beating heart when it is enveloped in marigold and its sickening sweet scent. Brightpool.

I growled, began crashing through the thick undergrowth that surrounded the camp, and slowly gained pace until I was left running, running for all that I was worth. LightClan, I thought. You're going to pay; and Cliff-Fall, maybe your fake daughter is worth more than you took her for.

* * *

I kept up my speed until I was panting so hard I could barely breathe. When it came to that point, I stopped and started to look all around me.

Trees everywhere. They were tall and looming, and they made me feel dizzy when I looked up at them. Even more dizzy than I already was. For whatever reason, my ankles were hurting like crazy- especially my right one- and my head was spinning around like a fluttering leaf on the breeze.

My pacing slower now, I began walking at a normal speed. There was a throbbing in my foreleg, and I had to try to lean on my left one as much as possible, which made it tire out quickly. Still, I couldn't do anything else, could I?

Feeling more than a little hungry, I tried to remember the last time that I had eaten and, with a jolt, realized that I couldn't. Was it only two, maybe three days ago that I had sat down to eat lunch with Flutterpaw?

You stupid mouse-brain, why didn't you say how much you loved her while she was still there? I wanted to scream at myself. Farewells. They're a hard thing in life. Happiness always ends with a cost of sorrow; always.

I paused for a few moments to stare at a low-lying knob on an ancient-looking tree, feeling it with my good forepaw. The last time that I probably will ever do that, I thought. If you were to ask me the reason that I was feeling so sad about that, I would tell you that I did not know in the slightest.

I burst through a mulberry bush in a distracted manner, the small thorns prickling my side. My pelt stung, but the pain was nothing more than the one on my front leg. Several cats standing before me. Smiling like an idiot. Because I had made it.

"Can I please speak to your leader for a moment?" I asked.

* * *

 **This was kind of a filler chapter, so you guys won't be so stressed out about the plot. If you think this is complicated... then, well, maybe I should sit you down for some small talk. Really, just saying.**


	21. Friends and Spiders

**"Emma doesn't know how to greet guests." Really, mom? I think I can handle my own friends at an early-birthday party.**

 **Chapter 20 already? Oh, well, this story will just have to stretch to Chapter 23 or so (including the ending allegiances and information). By the way, please read Chapter 23 when it comes out.**

 **23, the Magic Number! Whee!**

* * *

Chapter 20

The guards at the front of the camp stared at me. Then, recognition broke through the face of the right one and he unsheathed his claws. Well, that's what must have happened, because I sure as StarClan don't recognize _him._

But sure enough, a few moments later, a dark tawny tom appeared through the entrance. One of his narrowed yellow eyes were bloodshot and red, like he had been crying a little too hard. He sniffed. I thought his first reaction would be to claw me to bits or something, but instead he just said, "I see that you have changed your mind."

I nodded through the pain and the throbbing in my leg. Cliff-Fall did not seem to notice, however, just turned, back facing me.

"That was the signal to come," he said, sounding mildly annoyed when I didn't follow him.

I muttered something about old toms and did as he said to do. The two bewildered looking guards at the front let us pass, but their exprpessions still said, 'What are you doing, boss? Claw the lass's face or somethin'!' Well, that's what _old toms_ would think, anyway.

Instead of being lead into the center of the camp, Cliff-Fall herded me towards one of the shadier corners of the camp: behind a thick-leafed holly bush where there was a tiny clearing and a birch tree branch hanging over our heads. "Sit down," he commanded.

I was already half-collapsed from my foreleg, but I decided not to say anything about it.

"Before you begin talking," Cliff-Fall said, even though I wasn't planning to even open my mouth, "let me guess what you want and make this conversation go by quicker. You want revenge on LightClan? Then that's easy. I can cooperate with you anytime you want."

I was still very much surprised- and more than a little suspicious, but I decided that it was still better than killing me outright. "Well, you've certainly had a huge attitude change," I said, trying to sound as non-accusing as possible. Which was hard because I _was_ accusing him.

Silence. "Just some alone thinking time," Cliff-Fall said finally, his voice low and his tone slow and careful. "You are my step-daughter, after all. You should have the right to know what goes on inside of our own family."

My heart was beginning to melt by the second. "O- Oh," I said, not sure for the first time what to actually say. "That's... nice." How was wreaking havoc on a whole clan nice? But they weren't really nice to me or Flutterpaw anyway...

"Right," Cliff-fall broke in before I could reconsider my choices.

He continued without giving me a chance to talk. "Yes, now that's settled. If it were up to me-" of course it is, old tom, I thought dryly- "if it were up to me, then the attack should take place next evening, when everyone's settling down to sleep and getting all drowsy. I've planned it all out before, of course. There's nothing to worry about."

Oh, but the cats in LightClan are going to have to be worried, I thought. Somehow, that did not comfort me at all, just made me feel more guilty about Flutterpaw's death, as if I was responsible for it somehow. "Sure," I finally settled on.

"Good to see that you've grown wise at last," Cliff-Fall said again, smiling. "I've planned out everything with the clan already. Every single thing that I've just told you is just rehearsing it. The only thing you're going to do is help us, alright? Claw and slash and bite like it's going to be your last battle."

Well, I certainly hope it wouldn't be.

I nodded. It was all I could do to keep the pain in my leg inside. I didn't have the heart to tell my step-father that I probably couldn't go- or tell it to myself, for that matter. His battle had already become my battle and everyone else's.

"That's good," Cliff-Fall called out when I stood up to leave. "But I have something else to tell you. Something that only the two of us can ever hear. It's a message from StarClan. It... it has to do with you."

I stopped in my tracks; a pebble skittered around my paws and spun on its bottom for a few moments before settling back down into the dust. "What did they say?"

Cliff-Fall took a deep breath. He looked as if he didn't want to be the one saying whatever he had to say. "StarClan said... that only the venom of a spider will be able to stop you. They said that you have been warned already, and that... it will try to stop you from doing the right thing."

"Oh! Of course!" I cried, bolting upward and ignoring the soreness in my right foreleg. "That's it, a spider bite. Um, that's what's wrong with my leg..."

I did not realize that StarClan's message was the very thing that calmed Cliff-Fall down until much later.

He squinted down to where the pain was repeatedly coming from. "That looks serious. Maybe I should have Duskleap check it out for me. I'm not really one for medicine... Duskleap!" he shouted. "Get over here! Someone needs you!"

There came a familiar face peeking out from the edge of the holly bush. "Glowpaw!" he quickly exclaimed. His head disappeared around the corner for a few moments before he came back in with a bunch of sweet-smelling plants in his mouth.

Bending down, he immediately caught wind of my pain-racketed foreleg. "Stretch it out. It's a brown recluse bite," he muttered. I did as he told me to do. "Thank goodness the ulcer did not spread to the blood stream. That would put your internal organs at risk. It's just going to hurt really bad and it heals pretty slowly."

"Do you have any herbs for me?" I asked. I tried to avoid the fact that they smelled like the inside of Brightpool's den.

Duskleap looked thoughtful. "I don't have anything specific for that, but burdock root might help just a bit, even though it's supposed to be for rat bites. Or perhaps some dandelion leaves to sooth the pain."

He ended up choosing the dandelion leaves, chewing them up into a pulp and slowly spreading it over my leg. It still hurt pretty badly, but it seemed to subside just a little. Or maybe that was just in my imagination. "Thanks," I said.

Duskleap grinned. "Hey, no problem. You must have accidentally rolled onto the spider while you were sleeping... they really don't like that."

I smiled. "Yeah. So we're friends, I guess?"

"Yup; and since I tell this to all my friends, I'm gonna tell you too: you now have permission to call me by my birth name, Spider Fang. It's what close friends address me as."

* * *

 **Before you say anything: Duskleap is not going to turn evil and kill everyone all of a sudden.** **I never make stories that simple. Fortunately and unfortunately.**

 **Just warning you: the next chapter will be pretty long. I guess you can call it the finale, but the true finale will be on Chapter 22.**


	22. Warriors and Revenge

**It's time for some finale-ness and some epic-ness. Let's do this!**

 **Even though this chapter is still not technically the finale... Whatever!**

* * *

Chapter 21

I felt a slight prod on my shoulders as someone whispered in my ears, "It's time for the battle."

I groaned. My eyes fought with themselves for a few moments before my brain realized that it wasn't nighttime that I was waking up. No, it was (for StarClan's sakes) right in the middle of a hot, steaming afternoon.

That made my sleepiness go away a bit faster. I could now see the grouchy face of the cat who now stood above me, grumbling something about lunch and turning away so that his back was facing me. "Hurry up."

Forcing myself to stand up from the comfortable coolness of my nest, I began following him through the den entrance of the tiny hole that I had to nap in. Outside, the camp was looming, and much of the sunlight got through the sparse branches of the tall pine and spruce trees that surrounded this area.

Cliff-Fall stood in the center, waiting. Somehow, today, he seemed just a bit tired. "Battle plan rehearsal!" he barked as he stepped backwards onto the branch that lay there in the dust.

He didn't seem to get any taller, though. Maybe it was just his posture that was bringing him down.

Crowds began forming, cats began muttering, and I had to squeeze past the many cats in a rush to get to the front. Cliff-Fall eventually waved his tail for silence, but the noise did not truly end until several minutes later.

When nothing could be heard in the camp except for the excited breathing of many, he continued. "First, we walk- I repeat- walk, to their camp. We're not doing any of that fancy marching stuff. They'll hear us from ten territories away. Second of all, when we see a large willow tree with all the gnarls in it- don't look at me like that, I know LightClan territory much better than you do- we'll split up into two groups."

Cliff-Fall took a deep breath. "One will be led by me to sneak up on the camp from the northwest, and the other will take the southwestern region. First group, just follow me, and second group, make sure to never lose sight of the spruces. They make a sort of twisted trail."

The "We will eventually meet up in a small clearing- but keep to your own group. Lots of marigold growing there, so there's not a single excuse for missing that kind of pungent scent. Next, we'll start creeping towards the camp, _slowly_ if you'll please, and keep your head low. We don't want to be seen."

"Everyone will keep their noses sharp. LightClan always keeps two guards in front; attack from both sides, both groups. Then..." he paused. "War."

* * *

We padded out of DarkClan's camp, single file line, with me at the near front and feeling not so great at all. The sun was due to set in a while, and we needed to bid our time. "Now, Glowpaw, you're going to be staying with me through all this chaos," Cliff-Fall whispered to me.

Sure, I wanted to say, but the words felt heavy in my mouth and so I just shrugged slightly. I don't even know if he saw it.

We walked for a long time in silence. Eventually, some cats started chattering excitedly, but Cliff-Fall quieted them all down with his death glare. Through bushes and under trees, trekking in mud and occasionally hopping over some fallen trunks or boulders in the way. But still, silence.

It was unnerving.

When what seemed like eternity had already passed, Cliff-Fall stopped and everyone soon shuffled around and stopped behind him, too. "Glowpaw, Stormshade, Larktoe..." he began counting off names. "Those go with me. The rest go in the opposite direction. Blue Lilac can lead them."

From behind me, a small blue-gray she-cat nodded, her expression showing surprise. "Sure."

There was mumbling for about a few minutes and much shuffling around before everyone finally figured out which way they were supposed to go to. When I began tapping my paws impatiently on the dusty ground, the two groups were finally organized if slightly clumsily done so. Some of them looked unhappy about having to fight, especially Duskleap, who was at the back of the second group, mumbling about something.

We watched the other band go first, trekking through the treacherous undergrowth. But when they could not be even heard anymore, Cliff-Fall waved his tail in satisfaction and called out, "Come on."

More walking. I felt as if my paws would fall off soon, and literally. The pain in my leg was slightly better than yesterday's, but it was still coming back all the same.

* * *

I definitely smelled it first.

It was a sweet kind of scent, but so sickly sweet that I had to wrinkle up my nose. "I think that's the marigold patch that you were talking about earlier, right?" I whispered to Cliff-Fall. He nodded slowly.

"The other group should be coming along any time now," he muttered. I could feel the tension in the air, too, and I began waiting. Sitting down on a conveniently placed boulder right next to me, I began counting. One, two, three...

I lost count somewhere around two hundred fifty, and I could tell that our group was beginning to get fidgety. "Keep quiet!" Cliff-Fall hissed. "I think they're coming now!"

We all struggled to peek over each other, and sure enough, a group of around fifteen cats were not easy to miss. I spotted Duskleap quickly, and then the exhausted-looking form of Blue Lilac stumbling over to Cliff-Fall.

"We had some trouble with a cat named Mistflame or something. Said she wanted to go back to RiverClan or whatever... looked like a kittypet to me. Might be just bluffing, but then she attacked us," she panted. "Fierce kittypet. We weren't expecting that."

Cliff-Fall growled impatiently. "Sure, whatever. You'll keep going along that trail-" he flicked with his tail towards the south- "and we'll hopefully approach the camp from the other side. Get going, now! We're close!"

Sometimes walking gets old real fast, even when a battle is at the other end of the trail.

* * *

I sensed that something important was coming up when Cliff-Fall suddenly stopped without any warning.

Everyone else around me seemed to know it, too, because our group quieted down real fast and soon, there was nothing but silence hanging in the still air. He hissed, and began crouching down into a stalking position.

We got the message. I followed his example, as did the others behind me. Whispers in the rustles in a patch of ferns. Fading sunlight. Birds chittering quietly. We began continuing forward, slowly, carefully... steadily...

Slowly... carefully... steadily...

Shadows flitted into life in front of me, a muffled screech, and then silence. Nothing.

I was left staring at an unconscious body in front of me, with Cliff-Fall managing to look both tired and triumphant all at the same time. Several paces away, the same thing was being done to another guard; smacked over the head.

I recognized the faces. Dovechaser and Mossflight, the senior Golden Rays.

"Nice job," Cliff-Fall hissed to Blue Lilac, who was left looking quite pleased with herself. She nodded.

"Go for the dens now," she whispered back. "We'll split up so that everyone's cornered and can't get away. Too bad the leader and one of his servants aren't here." Blue Lilac turned up her nose. "Whatever."

The dens? I wanted to ask, my heart sinking. Even the Youngling's Sanctuary? What about the Retired's Den? Those are defenseless cats that can hardly fight for themselves!

"Glowpaw," Cliff-Fall began. "I need you to corner the elders' den. Keep them inside. Just in case they want to interfere..."

I gulped. Because what else could I do at this point, honestly? "Sure," I whispered, disparting from the rest of the crowd and heading for the Retired's Den. Clouddrifter would be in there. Reedflower, too... please don't fight me, I thought. Silence. Silencer, silenced. That was what was going to happen.

Our first sign was a loud screech coming from the Golden Ray den.

"Stop! Get off of me!" a high, piercing she-cat's voice rang out. It was Daisyspirit. "Don't touch me, you fiend!"

No sound from inside the den. Please stay asleep for as long as you can, I thought desperately. Please don't wake up now... Shadows stirred from behind me, and I turned around to find the hissing form of Brightpool, standing upon her own den. It creaked under her weight. "No!" she yowled. "For LightClan! We need to make sure that our ancestors' wishes are fulfilled!"

Despite myself, I could feel the fight already draining out of my body. How could I fight the cats that I had grown up with? But the battle had already begun.

There was Fawnspots, her lithe brown shape whirling in and out of view. There was Berrymist, his normally clouded blue eyes now clear with hate. There was Sleepyjaw, who had not yet completely returned from his land of dreams... Ryepaw, Splashpaw, all of those unique cats...

...and there was Flutterpaw.

I wasn't sure if I was seeing right at first. But as I blinked and blinked and her image would not go away, a growing hopefulness rose inside of me. "Flutterpaw!" I cried out. "You were alive after all!"

That was when I realized that she was standing side by side with Brightpool.

Slowly, the happiness I had felt upon first seeing her was replaced by a hot, burning anger. "How dare YOU?" I snarled, rearing up onto my hind legs. "How..."

She finally noticed me. Watching me struggle with my emotions, she said quietly, and coldly, "This clan is all we ever knew. If you keep fighting us, then war will be all our children know. SunClan has chosen me as their new prophet."

I hesitated. "But..."

 _But you are the venom that you've done so much to avoid,_ a voice whispered from within. _It has seeped inside you, giving you weakness and false attachments that you do not need. But order and peace must be restored, and order does not come from weakness. This clan must be obliterated._

Suddenly, I felt the itching in my right foreleg more than ever. "But no buts," I finished. "You are done for."

I don't remember exactly what happened then; Flutterpaw's face seemed to merge into that of Pebblepaw, and then slowly, into a faceless being, because that's what she was to me now. Nothing.

"Traitor!" I hissed quietly, and finally released the tension on my hind legs, pounding into the air like coiled, dried up ferns unraveling in newleaf. Flutterpaw screamed, but I could no longer hear the screaming, because it was just one part of a huge chorus of voices, voices chanting and screeching and growling for me to _obliterate them all._ Slashing and clawing and vicious biting.

...and then, it stopped.

There was noise around me, but I could no longer hear it.

There was the stench of blood and death, but I could no longer smell it.

Because all I felt, was the pulsing of venom under my skin.

* * *

 **Keep watch for Chapter 22. This is the equivalent of doing drugs, kids.**

 **...Did I just ruin the dark finale? Sorry.**

 **By the way, please, please, please do not unfollow this story, even after Chapter 23. You are welcome to, however, favorite this story if you haven't already, because we're getting very close to the end.**


	23. Dizziness and Seeing Stars

**You know what, I'm not going to ask for favorites anymore. This is ridiculous. The first story in which I had to ask for favorites. It's embarrassing.**

 **By the way, I'm going to aim for ending this story at precisely 28,500 words or so. Because I'm picky like that.**

 **Or maybe that won't be able to happen. We'll see as time goes on.**

* * *

Chapter 22

Flutterpaw was dead.

I somehow just knew it in my heart, like a heavy weight that couldn't be lifted. My vision was blurred, but as it slowly came back, I could begin to see it all. The crimson red of the blood on my shining claws. The voice in my head still pounding around. The shocked face of Brightpool.

Flutterpaw. She was dead.

"Prisoners of war!" Cliff-Fall's voice rang out above my thoughts. "You should have a better life than to be servants, and so I set you free! Take revenge on those who have done the wrong, for you have suffered under their cruelty. You-"

He did not need to say any more; all around the camp, cats were stirring from the shadows. Lean ones, tall ones, tiny ones, all leaping out from the corners and joining in the chant that was now rising above the clamor and chaos: "REBEL! REBEL! REBEL!"

 **Oh, gods, why is this story turning into the Hunger Games?**

Russet, the feisty fox-colored she-cat was first, leaping upon the pile of rubble and rocks that Cliff-Fall was standing on and shouting over the noise, "Everyone! Fight! Fight for our freedom!" Bell, the stargazing black she-cat was carrying The-Cat-With-No-Name- who seemed to have a broken leg of some sort across the clearing, her blue eyes clouded with the effort.

Everything was a stream of color and noise as I struggled to push my way through the descending chaos. I bumped into Rain, the sand-colored prisoner when I stumbled to get my head under the camp entrance- she was doing exactly the same- and I had to stop for a moment to watch her run away like rain on a stormy night. Exactly what her name was at first... she looked so free.

I was caged, even with a million possibilities right in front of me. The voice was softer now, less demanding, but I could still hear the desperation in its tone. We will guide you on your way, it said. To a place where you will be cared for and loved and understood. "Go away," I muttered. "I have to do something important."

Then I turned away from the camp without another glance back and started running. Running, like a trapped fish wriggling in the claws of a hunter. The fish was me; and the hunter was also me.

The last thing I saw before night completely extinguished the endless black sky was my own step-father, Cliff-Fall, nuzzling his cheek into Russet's as she kinked her tail over his back. Purring slightly. Smiling. Happiness that I did not have.

* * *

I was running into a deep, shadowed forest, the forest was dark, and I didn't care a single bit.

Vines entangled me, thorns scraped my pelt like sharp claws on a slippery mouse, and bushes seemed to leap out at me from nowhere to trip me over. I didn't care. The forest seemed to be growing by the second, getting deeper and thicker and harder to navigate.

I didn't care.

Tears streaked down my face. I didn't care. I couldn't wipe them away anyway. Tree branches seemed to suddenly appear and smack into me or scrape another cut onto my flesh. I didn't care. I was going somewhere better. Somewhere where all my scars wouldn't hurt so bad and they wouldn't be seen at all.

I stopped. Paused in my running, stumbled, fell. Staring at the tree next to me, my tears seemed to condense. Stared up onto the sky that could not be seen among all those overlapping branches. Stared down at my paws. My scratched paws that was beginning to bleed at the pads.

I took a step back. Reverted my eyes to the tree in front of me. Felt one fat tear squeeze out of my left eye. Scuffed my paws on the dusty ground carefully. Tensed up the muscles in my hind leg.

I charged. For all the dead bodies that piled high tonight.

Rough bark met my bare forehead, and the force of it sent me reeling. I couldn't feel pain in any one particular spot, or maybe it was just that it was coming from everywhere all at once. I could taste water bubbling at the edge of my mouth, and it tasted sour.

Sweet, sour water... my mouth was thirsty, but I couldn't move a muscle. My head felt as if someone was slowly dissecting it and taking it apart piece by piece, so that all that was left was a slow, painful agony.

"Glowpaw..."

I could see stars. Bright, shining things that were just hanging up there in the top of my vision. I wanted to see better, but I could not move or even blink. The shining things were fading away fast, though, but it wasn't dark just yet. Kind of blurry. "Glowpaw..."

"I- I'm not Glowpaw anymore," I croaked. "It's not who I am."

"My name is Spider."

* * *

 **The End**

* * *

 **Not really. Of course there would be sequels.**

 **Epic fail finale! :D Here are some questions for you (if you choose you review, please make it a long and meaningful one for all the work that I put into this story...)! Please, at least 5 complete sentences or so.**

 **1\. Glowpaw (Spider) died at the end of the story, I can tell you that. Where do you think she went in her death?**

 **2\. What do you think about Russet and Cliff-Fall together? (Not expecting you to answer this one, we didn't really get to know Russet much...)**

 **3\. Did you think Mistflame made it back to RiverClan?**

 **Final thoughts? I'm not going to tell you the name of the next book... that's covered in Chapter 23.**


	24. End Note and Information

**This is the chapter where I answer your questions, write special stuff, and announce the name of the next book.**

 **First of all... let me give you the allegiances after ****the book has ended. Cue the dramatic music...**

 **-o-**

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 **-o-**

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 **-The Illuminated (any cat that is a part of LightClan) at the END of the story-**

...

* * *

 **That's right. Gone.**

 **Not all were killed. Some ran away and found new lives. Others were not quite so lucky.**

 **Flutterpaw was right in what she was saying. War kills beginnings and possibilities.**

* * *

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

-John McCrae

* * *

 **Enough of that soppy stuff. Time for questions and answers!**

* * *

 **1\. I don't understand what's going on!**

 **My answer: Go reread the story.**

* * *

 **Dear Person,**

 **Hello, Person. On January 30, 2017, I have finished the story, Song of the Shadows: Losing Myself.**

 **Well, guess what the next book in the Dance of the Stars (DotS) series will be?**

 **I'll tell you right now so that you don't get confused: Hymn of the River: Finding Truth.**

 **Yep. Hymn of the River: Finding Truth. Except without the period at the end... obviously.**

 **Let's repeat that one more time, in case there's that one person who isn't paying attention: Hymn of the River: Finding Truth.**

 **Got that? Good. Until the next book, which will come a few days later at the most... goodbye!**

 **-Storm**

 **Stormshadow3**


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